


Avan

by SparrowGlas



Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Difference, Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, Angst, Dom/sub Undertones, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Multi, New Planets, Outer Space, Possessive Behavior, Science Fiction, Semi-Public Sex, Sex, Size Difference
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 76,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24626761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparrowGlas/pseuds/SparrowGlas
Summary: There was silence, so still and quiet that Orin heard his ragged inhale a little too loud in his own ears, before another snippet of audio was played, clouded only minimally with the barest of static and what he could only presume was the sound of the millions and millions of stardust and night sky between them."We greet you, people of Earth. We hear you. We will soon see you."
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 189
Kudos: 444





	1. Chapter One

"No..."

Orin gasped, green eyes wide as saucers as he stared at the letter between his trembling fingers. It was a letter he was afraid to even begin to believe he would ever see. A letter in response to an application he had poured his heart into for months before sending it off to be assessed. His work, his effort, every project he had ever worked on, every professor he had gotten approval from had all folded neatly into that one important application.

He raised it high above his head as he swiveled to stare at his mother, who had poked her head from the kitchen doorway at his exclamation. 

"Well?"

The woman raised her eyebrows, throwing her tea-towel over her shoulder and holding her hands up to match his. "Did you get it?"

Orin howled, a sound of genuine delight that just about took his poor mam off her feet before racing forward and grabbing her hands in his, crumpling the important piece of white paper between them. 

"They've approved my position! Mam! I've been approved! I'm going to Avan!"

###

Orin had been fifteen years old the day the New Planet had been introduced to the world. 

Avan, or Avainacala as no one liked to call it, had been a pipe dream planet of perfect habitability. Situated by a young Sun in a galaxy of incredible starlight richness and beauty, it appeared to the scientists that had made the discovery, to be a near oasis. The perfect balance of light and gravitation and water, with a near eighty per cent chance of actual life already existing there. For years, the race had been on between the countries of the world to make first contact, to make any form of contact, to just hear one glimmer of a chance that we were not alone in the universe. 

It was a race that had brought countries together, that stoked fighting spirit and scientific intrigue and had brought a near surge of a generation of scientists, astronauts, and all-round curious minds. Orin himself had been one such mind. He had seen the grainy images of a world unknown and wept in front of the television, his mother smiling fondly beside him. He had sat in the grass and the fields around his home and sunk his fingers deep into the mud and the earth, wide green eyes plastered to a bright blue sky and wondering just how different the dirt of another planet would feel beneath his fingers. It had brought about his fascination with plants, with life and living things, his need to know everything he could about the world beneath his feet so that he might one day compare the differences. 

But, with each passing year, the likeliness of ever making contact became less and less. The grainy images and speculation made Avan seem more and more a distant fairy tale. With every advancement into space and every advancement in communication, it just seemed to fade further and further away. With each month that passed with no new update, Orin felt his heart grow heavy. As he watched Avan sink slowly into the background of people's minds, he felt as though his work, his dream, his life would be for nothing. 

###

Orin was twenty-four when the aliens made first contact. 

He had been in the lab at college late, the radio on a near mute volume as he tried to pour what little concentration he had left into the new breed of Aloe he was trying to revive. The purple leaves were a dangerous shade of red, as if the plant itself was holding its breath in a fit at having been denied attention for a solid 24 hours. He had dragged mud coated fingers through his blonde hair, snapping the hair-tie more firmly in place to keep the knot of hair from his eyes as he gritted his teeth. He had thrown his head back in a moment's attempt at peace when the excited voice of the radio presenter came to him. 

"... and we have it again, people! The inhabitants of Avainacala, more commonly known as the New Planet Avan, have sent us a message! Yes, an actual message of peace and greeting in our very own Native English language! How about that!"

Orin had all but dived for the tiny radio, sending his stool clattering to the floor and himself with it; but he had caught the little machine all the same and didn't hesitate to roll the dial up to its fullest as he sat sprawled across the floor, his breath held and his ears perked. 

"It seems from the message that the inhabitants of Avan, or as they have formally introduced themselves, the... Telua people have recently encountered our long range communicators that have drifted into their solar system over the years! Receiving our message of greeting, they were absolutely thrilled and have informed us that they are in the midst of exploring beyond their past travels through their portion of space. It does seem as though our new outer worldly neighbors have a right grasp on space travel and have offered assistance in order to work towards an actual meet and greet in person here on Earth!"

Orin hissed, his jaw near aching with the strength of him clenching his teeth and his whole form trembling where he sat. 

"So we'll play that little snippet again, folks, listen up now!"

There was silence, so still and quiet that Orin heard his ragged inhale a little too loud in his own ears, before another snippet of audio was played, clouded only minimally with the barest of static and what he could only presume was the sound of the millions and millions of stardust and night sky between them. 

"We greet you, people of Earth. We hear you. We will soon see you."

The voice was a growl of a tone, low and silken and it struck Orin to his very core. There was not a human alive who would be able to mimic the depth of accent that fell heavy against the silence. It was easy to hear that English was not their first language, which bode the question how on Earth did they learn to speak it? The audio snippets, historical pieces and books launched into space so long ago as a sentimental "gift" to the New Planet, were never believed to have even remotely reached it. 

But had they? 

How else was this... man? Woman? Hell, it could have been a child for all they knew of them. How were they speaking it? Orin sat in a daze, turning the stereo down low again so that the incessant buzz of the broadcaster didn't take from the absurd truth that hung like a veil around him. 

They had heard them. They were coming. 

### 

When Orin was twenty-five, the Telua landed on Earth. 

Just a small group of them, only four altogether. 

The people had kept well to their promise and had remained in contact with Earth the entire year, teaching them things they could have never known, helping them to build instruments that were far superior than their own. They had promised a bond between the two planets, one of friendship and kinship and while they were determined to come to Earth, they spoke often of inviting the humans back to their home. The spoke of the things we could learn from their planet as fondly as they spoke of what they could learn from us. 

They sent clips of audio that grew clearer with each passing month, snippets of English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Korean, more and more. Whatever was communicated to them, they spoke until they had near perfected it. They learned quickly and with a thirst for it, as though our languages were something precious and fantastic. 

In turn, they sent conversations spoken in their native tongue. Each time Orin listened to it, the language all both crawled across his senses. It was, for all the world, primal. A mix of incomprehensible lettering and hushed whispers marked by growling, giddy snaps of words that were as difficult to decipher as they were mesmerizing to listen to. He had recorded the ones that appealed to him, though if he had had his way, he would have recorded them all. The voices were irrefutably male. Though soft and lilting at times, with crystal sharp laughter and high-pitched thrills, there was not one feminine voice in the lot. 

The Telua themselves never commented on the lack of female voices, each message, they said, came from a different Family, a different region, a different clan, and all in between. They spoke as though they had encompassed and included every single member that they could, and how could that not be true each time a young child's roar and gleeful chittering skittered across a recording. Even the little ones had a voice. Though he tried to differentiate between the voices, Orin believed they sounded better as one. They blended like the most beautiful song.

But seeing the Telua, now that just about took his breath away. 

There had been no pictures included with the audios they had sent. Though Earth had sent them on a bombardment of photos of smiling people; young, old, harried and overworked or calm and at peace. Woman, man, child at every stage with names included; the people of the New Planet had never sent any back. Some believed that they were too incomprehensible a species to photograph. There were those who thought the people were similar to old Earth tribes and steered clear from cameras for fear of losing their souls inside. 

Orin himself, however, believed that the Telua simply wanted to make an entrance. 

The arrival of their ship on neutral soil was the biggest television event, ever. Though the people that were there to greet them in person were the presidents and leaders of Earth and as many radio and television crews they could possibly fit in the sun covered desert field, every soul on Earth had to have been watching. 

Orin himself had squeezed his mother's hand with such force when the spaceship arrived in view that she had pulled it from his grasp with a yelp and smacked his arm. He scooted onto the floor and shook his head in wonder as the sleek, silver ship came down so slowly form the sky. It settled with barely a hum on the sand, not a shift despite the massive weight the 40 metre long vessel must have held in material alone. He watched with his hands clasped tightly in front of him as the nose of the ship tilted forward, leaning like an animal about to drink from a well of water before the main opening panel was pushed open and the very first Telua stepped outside. 

He was enormous. 

Orin threw wide eyes back towards his mother before snapping his attention again to the screen as the crowd gathered erupted into applause and shouted greetings of hello. The Telua stood stock still for a brief moment, his near eight foot tall frame motionless before dropping into a front bow, one long slender arm draped across his front and the other behind. The applause quickened, many of the world leaders bowing their heads to him in return before taking a step back to look at him. 

And how could they not?

His skin was silver and decorated across arms and chest was black ink. Though he wore a somewhat familiar billowed trouser of dusky rose and a leather strap across his front, the rest of him was bare. Toned and muscled and large across the shoulders, the silver skin covered him like a layer of sparkling dust. Not shining beneath the midday sun but metallic enough to seem not real. A tail swung from his lower spine with a slow, repetitive lull, fully silver and sleek except for a tuft of ebony black hair at the very end that stirred the sand up near his bare feet. His hair was jet black, pulled from his narrow face in a knot atop his head before falling down the length of his back in thick curls. Orin watched him with an open mouth as he smiled at the crowd and made his way forward, his teeth sharp and fang-like and bone china white against his lips. His eyes, though the camera angle was too low to tell seemed to be one fluid colour. A darker silver that bled across the crowd and seemed not to miss a thing. 

He was a warrior. 

Though Orin had no basis to go by, nor even the knowledge that the Telua people would even have warriors, he knew that this creature was one. He held himself like a leader of an army, but an army wild and fierce. His every move was calculated and he grasped the hand of the nearest world leader in such a firm shake, Orin thought the man's fingers  
would surely be broken. 

He was so enchanted with it all that he missed the other three leave the ship before they were suddenly beside the first. Two just as tall, in the same dusk pink trousers with the same pitch black hair. The fourth was shorter, if only by a fraction. The curving black tattoos that covered so much of the other three only wrapped once around his slender arm. He held himself differently aswell, arms behind his slender back and his silver skin darker, nearer grey in colour. His hair was sleek, a rich brown that fell down his spine in one single braid. His smile, when they greeted him, was almost soft, his eyes a gentle gold as he turned to face the camera directly. 

Those gold eyes bore into Orin's green ones. They held for a moment just beyond uncomfortable, a moment just before stern and unnerving, before his sharp teeth flashed in a wicked smile and his cheeks rounded. Beautiful... Though just as tall, just as lean and toned, there was something about him that was... captivating. 

"Mam." Orin breathed, his knuckles white where they gripped the edge of the rug. 

"Yes, love?" 

Orin took in their open faces, their differences, their... everything... and felt something tremble inside him. 

"I'm going to Avan."


	2. Chapter Two

There was no way he wasn't going to get lost in the massive bulk of metal in front of him. 

Orin strained his neck to look up from where he stood slightly apart from a group of other men and woman. While most chattered excitedly and gestured every so often to the hulking beast before them, Orin simply couldn't seem to tear his gaze away. The spaceship was huge. Beyond huge, it was double the size of the world's largest blue whale and then some. Over twice the size of the vessel the Telua had arrived on a year before and incomparible to anything the now twenty-six year old Botanist had ever seen in his life.   
Every angle of the ship melted flawlessly into curves and lengths of immaculate silver, though he was unsure what metal it was exactly that made up the outside. It sat on gigantic metal legs built intricately enough to tuck beneath the body in flight, a pointed nose dipped down to touch the dessert sand it sat on. His eyes watered against the glint of light that bounced off of it.

The sun was low in the sky with the late hour of the evening, the day having been spent with talk after countless talk in stuffy room after stuffy room. Orin breathed deep as a warm breeze whipped the few wispy bits of hair that had escaped his braid into his slowly burning face. He understood the need for it, of course. Every talk and speaker had served a purpose for each team put together, some humans having worked side by side with the Telua to further understand one another. He had listened to men delve into the mechanics of the star-ships they were building, to women explaining the similarities between our mathematics and the Telua's own; to old men in uniforms telling them to stand tall for Earth and to do their nations proud, and to young captains of every team explain each unit's purpose and goal. 

They were a team of about fifty. 

He had been told the specific number, told the ratio of males to females, scientists to officers, astronomers to architects and anthropologists to botanists to medics and everything else you could potentially need; a never ending list had been gone through that saw him wilting into the red fabric of his chair in the main lecture hall of the building now a thankful few miles behind them. He was sure his name had been a part of that list, with other plant-enthusiasts that he should really have been paying attention to; but his impatience had blurred the names together into one big long pile of boring. Childish though it might have been, he didn't care at just that moment about the other humans that would be travelling and living with him, he wanted to see the blasted spaceship. 

And now he was getting a crick in his neck from looking at the damn thing. 

Orin found himself pushed from his thoughts quite literally when a nearby fellow nature lover nudged him quickly in the side. 

What was her name? Danielle? Dakota?

"Look!" She pointed with a giddy stamp of her foot and gestured to the woman on her other side aswell, "We're next!"

Orin's head snapped up, his green eyes wide despite the sun. In all his pondering he hadn't realised the other teams were being loaded into the ship person by person, the chatter of the remaining few dozen now an excited hum as they slowly moved towards the entrance. It was an open panel on the side by the dipped nose, near eight foot up from where they were now standing and Orin could only marvel at the memory of the first Telua stepping through such an opening with ease. For the smaller humans, someone had graciously thought to install a temporary metal ladder. 

Before he knew it, Orin was flashing his tag at the security officer by the stairs, receiving a swift nod and was up the ladder by the time the cold from the metal could even begin to cool down his heated hands. Stepping in through the opening, he gaped at the second set of metal stairs that were set into the nose of the ship, reaching up towards the top where it began to level out again. He heaved a sigh, tightening the straps of his personal backpack before hopping up and starting to climb. 

You would have to be fit, the letter had stated upon his application approval. Avan terrain was sometimes steep and sloping, an abundance of sharp rock faces and massive amounts of trees and hills. Orin grinned, hauling himself up the steep climb with ease, step by step. Fit, able bodied, quick to follow orders and clever enough not to need them when necessary. The list of mandatory qualities had been daunting, this was uncharted territory and they would take no chances with the crew of First-Timers. 

Daunting as a list might be, Orin's stubbornness was more so and he was all but chuckling as he grabbed the top handle and pulled himself up to stare at the scene that opened in front of him. 

He froze. 

He was in what seemed to be a main center of the ship. A colossal tree stood before him, its yellow roots reaching every wall around it as they intertwined with the metal floor it seemed almost rooted into. Far, far above his head stretched a mass of gold and silver leaves, branches, flowers, further than he could even begin to make out, sprawling as though it had every right to be there against the metal canopy and glass ceiling. 

Amazing... 

"Woah!" Deborah gushed as she heaved herself over the edge, eyes all but sparkling as she pushed Orin forward into the mass of people chattering and laughing and pointing up in awe, "Look at the size of that beauty! Geez it must be thousands of years old!" 

"Closer to two hundred, it is young still." 

The voice came from beside them suddenly and rattled Orin to his core. He tore his sight from the tree to stare wide eyed at the man that had cropped up from nowhere, peering curiously down the stairs at the few remaining stragglers that were making their way up the ship. Orin was met with a sharp smile as he turned back around and eyes a solid gold.   
The Telua all but towered over them, his brown hair pulled back in a sharp ponytail that brushed against the tail swishing behind him in a gentle rhythm. 

It was him, wasn't it? One of the First.

"Oh my gosh!" Dahlila suddenly shrieked in Orin's ear, and all but caused him to jump out of his skin. "You're actually here with us! Well, I mean I guess some of you would be really, wouldn't you? It is, after all, your ship! But oh my God, this is incredible! It is a pleasure, sir, a pleasure to meet you and ride with you! Oh, but the tree! Two hundred years you say, amazing! It looks so much older, I am Diana by the way, one of the Botanists, if my fascination with that big ole' root over there wasn't a big enough give away!"

Diana, so he had been a tad off with the name. She cackled in what Orin supposed could be a friendly manner. Though she was definitely older than him, her face was young in her excitement, blue eyes wide and sparkling and, Orin supposed, she had a certain charm about her. Charm enough to warrant a warm chuckle from the Telua before them anyway. 

Orin watched him laugh, his teeth crystal white and his skin a warm dark grey beneath the slowly setting sun. His gold eyes were wide as they took in Diana's animated gestures, but quick to snap to the stairs when the last of the humans scuttled their way up. Orin watched him answer each question fired in his direction by the curious onlookers, all the while his hand snapped out to gesture not only to the human security guard below to lock the panel, but then above his head in one quick snap; as though signalling to someone none of the rest of the humans could see. 

Orin was all but lost in the suddenly crowded entryway as more and more people seemed to notice the presence of a Telua. He turned with a sigh back towards the tree in the center of the room and forced himself to walk away. He would have his chance to talk with them. He would have his chance to introduce himself to every single person aboard in the month long voyage it would take to get to Avan; it made no sense for him to try to stand out right this moment. Though it was not a trait that he often complained about, being a very slightly built, five foot man did sometimes have its downsides. 

He huffed a laugh, his eyes fond as he glanced over his shoulder at the Telua still smiling and talking to the "little" humans around him. His familiarity was striking, like strolling down the street during an evening walk only to bump into a well-known celebrity. Orin remembered him vividly, knew his face as sure as he knew his own, even if he knew nothing about him. But, weren't they supposed to have gone back home at some point? The first ship certainly had. He remembered watching it take off back into the sky with the ease of a bird taking flight, it's hum gentle and low and a sound he felt in his core long after the media crew had finished filming. There had been little coverage of the Telua after that. 

Of course, there had been talk on them, opinions given left and right and debates on sending the humans into space. The Telua themselves, however, seemed to have all gone back home, awaiting their arrival. Slowly, as the months moved on, as the media focus of the first group of humans to travel to a new planet became the next big thing, the Telua landing on Earth had become like a distant dream. 

Orin shook his head; as if there could ever be a next big thing bigger than seeing a brand new creature, man and yet not, as it emerged from a spaceship. As if it wasn't interesting enough to just be on the same planet, the same ship as-

Orin yelped as he collided with something hard and solid, his hands coming up to grab his face as the bridge of his nose gave a throb of pain, his eyes quickly watering. What the hell? He glanced forward at the offending thing, before dropping his hands to his side and craning his head back to look up. 

The thing he had collided with had been the braced elbow of a near eight foot tall Telua. 

The man thrilled a low sound of panic as he turned to see what had hit him, bending down to brace his hands on his thighs so that he could come face to face with Orin's now splendidly scarlet nose. 

"I am sorry, little one. I did not hear you approach, are you well?"

Orin felt tears leak against his will as he grabbed his nose again, his cheeks flaming both with the newfound pain and the mortification of having walked face first into another person's elbow. Who does that? And not just another person, a Telua! His first chance to make a memorable impression for himself with a species he had admired for years and he had headbutted one's arm! Damn it all, what was wrong with him?

He opened his mouth to speak when two silver hands caught his cheeks gently and guided his face towards the light. Orin was spellbound as metallic black eyes stared down at him with what could only be worry, the Telua's brow furrowed and his mouth drawn in a severe line. His thumb grazed the bridge of Orin's nose, all but eclipsing it in size and the human realised with a jolt that the silver skin he so admired was not skin at all. It felt like soft, short fur against him. 

"I have harmed you." 

Orin made to smile, to brush away the worry with a wan response that he was, in fact, a tool and could not be trusted to make his way from one side of a room to another without breaking his stupid nose. Alarmingly, the smile only served to scrunch his nose and cause a sudden flow of blood that spilled across the Telua's hand. The noise the taller man let loose was most definitely one of distress, a trembling coo as he raised his head to seek out someone else in the crowded room. He was looking for help. For the human he thought he was at fault for hurting. Well, now Orin just felt like a criminal. 

"No, no, don't get upset, it's okay!" He pinched his nose as he spoke, his voice shrill and nasally in his ears, "I've had loads of nose bleeds, I don't think it's actually too bad." He jumped as an arm on his shoulder suddenly spun him around and he was facing another. 

"Ah." The familiar Telua huffed out, "It is not so bad, you say?" 

Wide golden eyes were almost bright with what could only be humor as the man turned Orin's face from side to side, lips stretching into a slow smile as he reached soft grey fingers out as if to grasp the human's nose between them. "Then you will not mind if I touch it?" 

His smile only grew as Orin squawked and covered the throbbing appendage with both hands. The golden eyed creature snorted. His nose scrunched in a bark of laughter before he turned to the other Telua still hovering close beside them. He spoke a calming breath, swift and sincere; his smile was fond as he pushed the taller man away with a happy little thrill of foreign words. 

With a grin, he glanced back down at Orin and, despite the pain in his face, the human could do little to stop the smile on his own face. His tag was plucked from where it lay on his chest and the taller man tutted softly and sweetly to himself, his smile bright as he steered Orin away from where the other humans seemed to be gathering. 

"Come along, little one. Your evening meal will have to wait until the good Healer has mended your fragile nose."

Orin glared up at the grinning creature despite the blood that pooled in the back of his throat. The nickname, he could do without.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, if you are continuing to read thank you so much.


	3. Chapter Three

Orin watched him as they walked. How could he not? 

Sure, it probably would have been beneficial for him to be watching the ship as they strolled through open hallways, narrow passes and scaled sudden uphills; and he was. Of course he was, the ship was something incredible, something new and shining and altogether fantastic, the roots of the golden tree in the centre every so often made an appearance against the metal floor, a sudden burst of silver flowers from an opening in a wall here and there. It was beyond incredible and he itched to know how the entire thing worked. Had the ship been built around the tree as it grew? Was it all one massive interconnection of plants and roots that lived hardier than it was supposed to? Like a dandelion sprouting from concrete, was it as wild as it liked or in any way tamed? Of course he was taking it in bit by bit; but his attention was rather focused on the creature ahead of him. 

He was at least two full feet taller than Orin himself, slender in build though his shoulders were strong and his arms, from what Orin could see of them beneath the tunic, were lean with muscle. His feet were bare, long and arched with what could only be called claws instead of toenails. He knew this information, but seeing it up close was another thing entirely. He knew the Telua were strong, were tall; he knew they wore their hair long and that their ears were pointed at the top. He knew so much of them from the interest he had held in them, but seeing one up close was an altogether different type of wonder. 

He had known they were a species whose skin ranged from pale silver to dark grey, but now as he strode in time with the man beside him; he could see the fine layer of grey fur that made such a colour. It covered every inch of skin Orin could see. He had known that their eyes were one solid colour, bright and wide, but he had not known that they were surrounded by jet black lashes. He knew many things about the Telua, but he was beginning to grasp the fact that what he did not know about them was a great deal more. 

Orin had only just managed to avoid threading on the man's tail as they veered up another incline, his eyes wide as they took in the gentle sway from side to side; it looked almost as long as Orin was tall if the Telua were so inclined to stretch it out. Could he stretch it out? Was that bend towards the bottom natural, or just a habit to keep it trailing the ground behind him? Could he feel through the tuft of dark hair at the bottom? Orin's fingers twitched. 

"What does Orin mean?"

The blonde jumped as though caught in the act, glancing up over the fingers that still covered his slowly clotting nosebleed to meet the sly smile the Telua cast down on him. The man was intense. Solid colour though his eyes may have been, Orin had no trouble understanding that he was the sole focus of their attention at the moment. 

"Eh, it's my name." 

The man bared his teeth in a grin, his shoulders bunching as if to prevent a laugh. 

"I know it is your name, I saw as such when I looked at your admittance badge." 

A single dark grey digit came up to flick the ID tag around Orin's neck and he flushed. Yep, he scolded himself, he was an idiot. The Telua enjoyed learning, wanted to know all the little things humans could teach them. Of course he knew it was his name. This one wanted to know the meaning of his name. 

"Orin is a take on an old Irish name, Odhran spelled O-D-H-R-A-N. It means, ah... Little pale, green one."

The Telua stopped, his face turning to look down at Orin and his head tilted as though in thought. He blinked, his smile soft. 

"A fitting name." 

The blonde grimaced, his cheeks flushing. He had thought so himself, of course, that his mother had hit the nail on the head with the old family name. Blonde hair, pale skin, green eyes. It was as if the woman had known well that her son would fit the name well; even if she did say it was for his Grandfather that he was named. 

"Yeah, I guess she wanted to keep some bit of Irish alive, even if she didn't speak much of the language herself. Your name suits you too though, well, I mean, in English... I don't know about in your language."

The Telua's face lit up with something akin to curiosity, or perhaps suspicion. His tail lifted to stiffen behind him and his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the human.

"My Name?"

Orin frowned, his stance awkward. Had he offended him? Should he have waited for the man to introduce himself? He hadn't really been trained on any etiquette so far; most who had met the Telua in person spoke only of their patience, their friendliness. He supposed there were social mix ups in every species though, there had to be. But he knew his name... what was the point of lying? He huffed an embarrassed laugh.

"Ah! Well, I mean, I only heard you pronounce it the once when you came off the ship so I might be wrong. Maybe I am, but it sounded a lot like ah... Aurina I think? Like Aurinia Saxatilis, the flower? Though your eyes are a bit darker up close, it reminded me of the gold petals... Sorry, I didn't mean to offend." 

Golden eyes grew wide, the Telua's mouth slack as he peered down at Orin. Damn it, he'd launched his foot into his mouth again. His mother warned him about this... 

"Auur'na." 

Orin felt his heart vibrate with the purr the Telua let out, his name obviously spoken in the crawling, rolling tones of his own language. It was as he remembered, a draw out on the 'Au' that would be easy enough to master with his own tongue, and such a quick break between the 'r' and the 'n' that the 'i' he had placed there in his memory was near non-existent. 

"Auur'na." he repeated, though he knew his human vocal chords made the word high and shorter, an Irish roll in the middle that he could do little to help with his accent. 

The Telua blinked, his body giving a sudden, quick shudder as though he had felt a chill. He gave Orin one last smile before leaning forward and sliding open a door behind them both that the blonde hadn't even noticed. 

"She will take care of you." he spoke close to Orin, his eyes searching as he nodded towards the room he had just opened. With a genuine smile, he turned. 

"I will see you, Little pale, green one." 

###

"Ooft, that's a nasty busted nose, isn't it? Who'd you get in a fight with?"

Orin was still reeling as he scowled at the woman that had dragged him in from the hallway and plonked him on a trolley bed. 

The healer, he supposed doctor was probably more accurate in the English language, was mad. There was no other conclusion he could draw from her scattered questioning and flitting about the room. She was a spritely fifty-odd year old with an impressive six foot height and spindly build. Her wild black curls were piled high on her head, kept in place with a vivid pink headscarf and, occasionally, her ridiculously large glasses. 

The room she hummed about in was obviously a doctor's office... Medical practice? He couldn't be sure of the correct term, he had spent a few scant moments throughout his life in one for the odd bout of flu or sprained ankle and he did not especially care for the experience. This one was no less clinical. Though the metal walls matched the rest of the ship well and the familiar roots of the Centre tree poked their way through the ceiling here and there, the walls were lined with glass cabinets full of... medical things. Tools, wraps, bottles, boxes, things that he could only hazzard a guess as to the contents. There were several short trolley beds like the one the doctor had plonked him down on fixed against the wall, as well as taller floor to ceiling length wardrobes that could be hiding anything at all...

The doctor whistled to grab his attention as she peered down her nose at Orin's face, her hands freezing beneath his chin where she directed him towards the glaring ceiling light.   
He scowled.

"I didn't get in a fight, why would you assume I got in a fight?" 

She shrugged her shoulders with a smile, batting Orin's hand away when he tried to shield his eyes from the light. It was bright, damn it!

"The small ones do, sometimes! Small man syndrome, Napoleon complex, Terrier mentality, call it what you will! You're a bit too skinny to be throwing punches, though!"

Orin groaned as she forced a bottle of sterile solution up one of his nostrils and squirted, the vile saline taste going down his throat to clear the way. He had never thrown a punch in his life! Unless it was at some useless piece of machinery that wasn't working they way it bloody well should have been.

"Breathe!"

He sniffed through the taste, gagging comically. Wasn't it against some unwritten rule for a doctor to laugh at you? Was she allowed to be grinning like that? He didn't think so...

"This next one's gonna be cold, but do your best to bear it, it's the best knit together Kou and I could come up with to substitute for the real thing!"

Before he could question her, she was smothering a bandage in a sweet-smelling lilac substance that she immediately held onto Orin's, definitely bruised, nose. The liquid was freezing! He bit his lip against the chattering of his teeth as cold exploded across his nose and cheeks, reaching his temples with a frightening speed as the mad doctor hummed to herself and glanced down at the watch on her skinny wrist. 

Orin bore the rapid cold for barely ten seconds before it began to warm, his shoulders sagging in relief. His temple was near numb from the sudden temperature change. Not a minute after that, the woman took away the bandage and continued to hum as she dumped it into what looked like a flower pot? She wheeled around to face him with a smile. 

"Better?"

Better? Well... yes. Yes he was. His nose didn't so much as twinge when he scrunched it and when he hauled himself from the trolley bed to the pristine mirror across the room, he could see his face looked exactly the same as when he had boarded the ship. 

Actually, better in fact. There were no longer bags beneath his eyes from a night of giddy thoughts and restless turning. His nose was perfectly straight and unblemished. Hell, he looked like he had just been to the spa. Orin glanced at the large silver pot to the side that the doctor had thrown the bandage into. At the bottom, where the white cloth was slowly disintegrating, was a mass of golden roots and snow white flower buds.

"Nothing goes to waste with the Telua!" The doctor had creeped up behind him and he whirled to face her. "Everything is made from plants, everything decomposes, everything is safe." 

She turned her wide smile on him, flicking his nose as he stared up at her. 

"That little medicine has taken me and my team a solid six months to perfect with the help of our space neighbours. Kou is a Healer of theirs, one of the First, if you recall? He's   
floated around the Medic wing somewhere! Always fiddlin' with serums and such." she chuckled, "though the stuff we have here doesn't even begin to describe some of the stuff they have on their planet! And now I get to see it for myself!" 

She slung an arm around Orin's shoulder with a little snort of happiness and he could do little to help the smile that curved his mouth at her excitement. 

"I'm Ana, hon," she gripped his shoulder, "how about we go get somethin' to eat? I'm starvin'!"


	4. Chapter Four

It was immediately apparent to Orin that Ana was a force to be reckoned with. 

The woman commanded the ship with the same amount of energy as the Telua that cropped up every so often. Though they were impossible to miss, sometimes seemingly at work, and othertimes surrounded by a group of curious humans; if he so much as minutely slowed his pace, Orin found himself dragged along by the wild doctor. 

Not that he had anything against it. Ana was a wealth of knowledge in herself, poking at him every so often to highlight a new bit of information.

"The metal they use to build these star ships is incredibly flexible. It's why they have such an easy time of it scrappin' one up out of the blue! Not to mention the fact that if they were to tear it apart, it'd eventually melt back into the ground. Somethin' else, right?"

"I know those flowers are pretty, but they're all doin' their own job! Must remind Kou to send out a quick notice to the humans not to be pluckin' them up! I mean one of these little daisies is enough to fill a whole box-room with oxygen!" 

"Don't be puttin' your fingers too near the edges of those doors! The ones that slide are no bother but those ones that swing up are at a right, nasty speed."

"With all the blind testing we've been doing in the Med lab, it'll be a breath of fresh air to be able to see how we huamns as a whole respond to Avan medicines! I mean you had a great reaction, cleared up in no time, but what about someone with active hayfever? An allergy to plants? That'll be a sight!" 

Orin tried to take it all in, all the words and cackles she let loose as well as all the little things she pointed out. He knew by the time he fell into bed he would have forgotten half of it. The ship itself was almost too much to his senses. It was bright and steady with a rolling hum that trembled beneath his feet. He had been so sure he would know the instant they were taking off from that rumbling alone; breaking the Earth's atmosphere for the very first time. Of course, he would feel it the moment they left the planet.

He had not. 

As Ana gave a triumphant sigh and spread her arms wide before the window they were suddenly in front of, Orin was almost shaken to his core. 

There it was. 

A ball of blue and white and green and brown, almost so far from them, in the vast blackness around it, that he could see the entirety of it. 

There was Earth. 

Orin blinked. His hands coming out to grab the railing in front of the massive pane of glass, mindful of the few scattered people that were staring and pointing and gasping at the tiny ball of mud and water. 

That was his home. 

His home, his house, every single memory and moment; his old job, his friends, every person that had ever skimmed through his life or made an impact. Every other single important thing that he had known... already gone. 

So very many miles away and he had not even realised it. How had he not realised it? How had he missed the take off? Orin swallowed, his fingers pale with his grip and his thoughts uncertain. It was... 

"It's a lot, isn't it?"

Ana smiled down at him when he darted a glance up, her own eyes suspiciously shiny behind her large frames. 

"Don't get me wrong, I don't regret my decision. Not for one, single, second." She looked back out the window, teeth bared in a grin. "That doesn't mean it doesn't hit you like a tonne of bricks. Down there is just about all we've ever known. We're entering uncharted waters here, something new and incredible. This is it, love. This is it what we've been waitin' for." 

Orin huffed down a sound that could have been a sob, he lips pulling up in a grin. 

"It really is." 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Ana gave a bark of a laugh, slapping him on the back hard enough to sting and drawing a few disgruntled snorts from the people around her. 

"That's the spirit," she all but growled, pushing him and his watchful gaze away from the fast fading sight of the Earth and towards an open doorway to the right. "Doesn't seem like much of a small step from all the way up here!"

###

The dining hall was relatively compact compared to the sprawling open hallways they had come through. Tables and benches in the same silver metal filled the majority of the space, with a line of appliances and counters along the back wall. 

Some were obvious, human in design, he supposed. Orin recognised the cooker tops and oven plates, all connected to the back wall through pipes that might have been fuel. Did Avan have fuel sources? They seemed to heat the food on them fine, from what the man could make out of other people's plates. 

Some were less obvious. Wooden racks that held fruit he had never seen in his life and were cold to the touch, skinny barrel containers in that same flawless metal that were filled with frosted containers of what he assumed was water? Drinks of some sort? Wafts of spices and boiling water filled the air from the large pot on what he assumed was a sort of camping stand? The thing was nearly three feet by three feet, the pot it held more of a cauldron then anything else. 

"The rough translation for it, if you're wondering, would be a stove," Ana said as she pushed him towards the queue of people, grabbing two metal bowls from a nearby counter and handing him one. "The Telua are fond of stock pot meals. I suppose you could compare them to stock pot? Stews, soups, broths. Mind you, the ones the make with fruit are a crime against nature. Who boils fruit?"

Orin grinned as he took the ladle from the man in front of him, dipping it into the silver cauldron and spooning a generous amount of the pale brown... broth into his bowl. He poked at it with the spoon Ana handed him as she dished her own up. 

The soup was like any other stew soup his mother would have served him, though thicker, and the smell of herbs and spices that came from it was extremely unfamiliar. Not unpleasant though, he mused thoughtfully as he followed Ana along to a table, scooping up a piece of something root-like and popping it into his mouth. "It's nice!" 

Ana sat across form him with a chuckle, reaching behind her to one of the barrels and grabbing two flasks. "Of course it is," she slid a bottle his way, "Like I said, the fruit one is all kinds of gross, but the rest are perfectly good. You will have to come to me if you've any reactions though, this here is all about testing the waters!"

Orin nodded as he tipped back the flask of cold water, wiping the bit that dribbled down his chin with the back of hand. "You mean like an allergic reaction? Like with the gel?"

Ana nodded as she chewed, pointing her spoon out across the rest of the people that were slowly milling out of the Canteen, done with their meals and eager to explore. Orin, it seemed, was making a habit of being late to the party. 

"Everybody's different." Ana said, "that medicine that we've been working with, on paper, seems perfect. It should, logically, work like a charm and deal with all manner of bump, bruise, minor break and wound. That being said, it worked faster on you than it does on me." Orin glanced up at her, brow furrowed. 

Ana chuckled. "That's not a bad thing, kid. But, it does beg the question why? Metabolism, different body types, age, genetics? It could be any manner of anything! It works great on me, it works fantastic on you, but I could get a girl in tomorrow morning with a bruise on her noggin and that gel could do sweet 'f' all, you get me?"

He hummed, sipping the last of the broth and taking his flask in hand. "What do you do in that case? If you get a severe case and that magic gel doesn't work?"

"Well, we use the old fashioned human way! I may have been aboard this ship the past few months testing new and marvelous medicines but that doesn't mean I've gone and forgotten my twenty years medical experience, love! I am an actual Doctor." Ana slid back in her seat, her smile easy. "Some humans work differently, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna experiment with each and every one of you to see what works best! The supplies I have at hand now are limited, only a few things Kou thought might work well.  
But the supplies we'll have to play around with in Avan," she whistled lowly, eyes bright, "now that'll be something else!"

Orin smiled, he could agree with her enthusiasm. Avan was definitely going to be something else. He knew barely anything of the plants and landscape there, only a fraction more on the people that inhabited it. He had always been eager to learn, eager to experiment and try something new. It was no wonder he loved listening to Ana in her excited enthusiasm. She may have been intense, but she was sincere.

"I was searching for you."

Orin snorted into the bottle of water as a voice sounded behind him suddenly, coughing as he spilled the drink down both his throat and his front. 

Ana howled with laughter as the Telua beside him looked on in horror, hands raised as if he wasn't sure whether to intervene with the spluttering, pink-faced human or to leave him be. Orin shook his head at the man, clasping his chest as he hacked to clear the water from his airways, his eyes bright with tears. What was wrong with him? 

"Sit down, Kou. Leave the little one to settle himself." 

Orin snapped watery eyes up to his other side in time to watch as a pair of bright gold ones looked down at him with no small amount of humour. 

"This one is trouble, anyway." 

Auur'na settled gracefully into the bench seat beside Ana, while a familiar-looking Telua sat down slowly beside Orin, his pale silver eyes still focused warily on the blonde. 

"Oh!" Orin focused his gaze with some effort, clearing his throat with a grunt and waving the bottle towards the man beside him in excitement, "You're one of the First! Kounahtala, right? Sorry, maybe I'm pronouncing it wrong. I'm Orin!" 

Silver eyes blinked slowly, his lip lifting in a brief huff of laughter before his face straightened again. "Orin." he nodded slowly, as though committing the name to memory, "You speak my name well. Though, I have grown to like the shortened way." 

"I shortened it to Kou," Ana grinned, "It's a nice name and all but I've always liked nicknames! Short and sweet, that's my motto! Hell, it's why I don't go by my full name. Anastasia, I mean, what was my mother thinking? What was it you were looking for me for, Kou?"

Orin watched Kou for a moment as the Telua spoke, his hands moving as though to act out some of the words in front of him; an almost human gesture that Orin was sure he had gotten from Ana. The man's face was stoic as it was sharp; handsome angles and thin lips quirking in momentary amusement. He was taller than the rest Orin had seen so far, broad across the shoulders and littered in black tattoos across his half-clothed chest and bare arms. 

Except they weren't tattoos, Orin could see. They were markings in the fur... Hair? Black markings of soft spirals and gentle curves not printed on his skin but a part of him. Did they all have similar markings? Similar shapes and designs? Was it dye, he wondered, or an actual pattern born into the Telua at birth? Orin slid his gaze over to inspect the harsh black lines that made up the markings across Auur'na's arm and shoulder. These were near perfectly straight, a blend of line and right angles that almost made a maze of dark grey across the lighter grey of his fur. 

So were they all different?

His eyes lifted to find Auur'na staring down at him, the man's head tilted to one side and his fangs peeking against the curved bottom lip of his smile. 

Caught. 

Orin flushed., lifting one of his shoulders in a shrug with a small smile.

Auur'na hummed as he lifted himself from the bench, tilting his head towards the door to make sure Orin knew to follow him. 

"Come, little one, let me show you to your sleeping room. All the other humans have been given their keys."

Orin bid a hasty goodbye to Ana, smiling when the woman pulled him in tight for a hug and Kou waved at him. "You mean the sleeping quarters, right? We were told we might have to share."

Auur'na paused his stride to allow the shorter blonde to catch up. "We were expecting more humans to come. There is enough space aboard this ship to allow each of you a room to call their own for the journey home."

Home. 

"Are you excited to be going back?" 

Auur'na grinned down at him, his gold eyes flashing. "Earth is exciting. Earth is new and different and full of things to learn. We were excited to travel, excited to meet new people, to scent your nature and see the animals, the creatures unknown to us. We were excited to speak with you, live with you, laugh with you. We are excited to be bringing you back with us.

But home is not excitement, it is calm. Home is safe, to me. I was excited to see Earth. I am happy to be going Home." 

Orin focused his eyes on the few humans still wandering through the hallways, all but buzzing with the low thrill in the air around them. The excited whispers and groups gathered together talking and laughing were a new constant; something he was sure he would thread through for days after today. 

"Are you excited, Orin?"

The blonde cast him a genuine smile. "At first, sure," he said with a nod, "I've been hoping for this day for near enough half my life. From the first second I saw your planet, I knew I needed to be there. I know that sounds silly. Even my Mam used to say it was such a funny little notion that I got stuck in my head..."

They passed by a window as they rounded a corner, the lights in this hall dim and making the blanket of dark outside seem all the more vast. Orin stopped to stare, his chest lifting in a deep breath. A funny little notion, but one the woman had supported to her very end. 

As Orin looked out with wide eyes over the velvet darkness and thousands of pinpricks of faraway stars, his heart seemed eerily settled. 

"I was excited," the blonde glanced sideways in time to catch a pair of gold eyes focus down on him, "but you're right. Happy is a better word for it."


	5. Chapter Five

A sudden noise of intrigue broke Orin from his musings, his head lifting from the metal desk he was hunched over to glance at the man diagonally across from him. 

"Are you alright?"

The man's name was Richard. Orin remembered it after only a week of getting it wrong on a near daily basis. The pair were seated on one of the few desks scattered around what he supposed could be referred to as a library. The room was small, with only three of the four walls filled with literature that was both fictional and non. It was meant as a reading area for them, he guessed, with human novels taking up a majority of the shelving. Fantasy, romance, crime, humor, biography, science, medicine, nature, space, religion, geography, history...

He had found the treasure trove very much by accident, when he was roaming the hallways in search of Ana. The room had been a bright light against the dimness of the corridor outside and when he had sidled inside, the ceiling had held him captive. It was entirely glass, giving way to an incredible view of the stars and space as they passed by. It had taken him tracking the view for only two days before he realised that the ship alternated its speed. At times, it was slow; a lulling hum of vibrations beneath his feet and steady as the stars passed by so slowly he could almost pin down a pattern. As the hum gentled and the vibrations beneath his feet near melted away, the speed with which the outside worlds flew by all but left him breathless. He had near made himself sick with how long he watched it fly past, trying to figure out mechanics that were beyond his grasp. 

He had queried it once at breakfast, seated at a table with a group of engineers and a Telua with bronze eyes and a quick smile. How was it that the ship was made? Was it truly built around the tree as it grew, and if so, how did the branches and roots and sap not intrude upon the mechanics? Was the tree alive, then, as he believed it to be; or was it dead with being removed from the ground? Was the ship fueled from the tree, from a natural source, from... what?

His incessant questioning had all but scared the lot of them into trying to answer at once; each one a theory, an opinion, a notion he had no interest in. The Telua himself had been unable to get a word in with their chatter. 

"The tree is alive, it would be of little use if we killed it..."

"But how? How is it alive is the man's question! How is it rooted in metal and still going strong... A good question..."

"The tree takes nutrients from the metal, surely... Isn't the metal from the ground, the energy...?"

"The metal is from the ground? Like it comes out already like that?"

"I tell you I just can't seem to wrap my head around it, lads."

The discussion had been more annoying than helpful. Each time Orin had tried to allow the Telua a second to answer, another one of the men around him had butted in or laughed in amazement or nudged his side with a different question and distracted him to no end. The ship worked, from what he could gather, near flawlessly. The tree in the Centre was its heart and engines, its lifeline and fuel source. That was about as much as he was gathering on the subject. 

Which had led him to wander in search of his own answers, which in turn had brought him to this room and its metal shelving filled with its array of battered and old, new and pristine, worn and cherished, stiff and un-opened collection of books. That alone had been a welcome surprise, being the book lover that he was. He had quickly swiped up a novel and made his way back to his room, his errant questions on hold for the moment. The following evening had found him jaunting back to the library, only to find poor Richard glaring steadily at a folder of paperwork and notes. 

Richard was a doctor, he had soon learned, and had willingly sought out Ana's guidance in regards to Telua biology; seeing as she had been one of the first to meet and begin working with the alien creatures themselves. That and Orin firmly believed Richard held something akin to hero worship for the stoic Telua Medic that Ana siphoned her information from. If one thing could be assured with life so far on the ship, it was that wherever Ana was, Kou was not often far behind. Orin had listened to Richard's praise of the Telua doctor with easy amusement.

"I have listened to so many of his interpretations of human medicine. He understands it all, Orin."

"He would do, yeah, he'd kinda need to understand it all."

"He just has this way about him, as if you could place a patient dying of something un-treatable in front of him and he'd have them walking within an hour, don't you think?"

"Well, he's learning too, but, I mean, maybe?"

"If I could become half as good, half as calm as he seems like he would be in an emergency..."

Orin brought himself back to the present with a blink, his fingers flattening out the pages of the beekeeping book he had been poured over. Did they have bees on Avan?

Richard dragged his hands through his brown hair, scrubbing his eyes before he glanced at Orin. "Ana was kind enough to give me her notes on what she's gathered so far on Telua... biology."

Orin nodded as he watched the door slide open, nodding at the two women that strolled in. He couldn't even begin to guess at their names, though he was sure the shorter blonde one had been in once or twice in the times he and Richard had commandeered the bigger bench. "Uh huh? I thought you wanted to know absolutely everything about Telua biology?"

Richard looked almost embarrassed, "I did, of course I did. I mean even if I never have to treat a Telua patient, just to know the information would make me a better doctor. Not to mention, some of it is just fascinating. They have a longer lifespan than humans, near tripled sometimes. Their immune system is better, they have antibodies in their blood that just about snuff out things that'd have a human bedridden for a week. Their fur is filled with nerves, but their hair is nearly identical to human hair. They can see in the dark, sense rising and dropping temperatures with their eyes, hear way better than we could even hope to. Hell, even their teeth are better.

All round, they are a biologically superior race. They can digest meats, fruits, roots, vegetation, more. They have a smaller organ in their torso cavity like a second heart that benefits blood flow and oxygen to the organs, they have a similar digestive system to humans but with far more muscle. They're incredible really..."

Orin nodded, grinning at the way Richard moved his hands about his face as he spoke, his head shaking in disbelief at each difference. Though Orin himself learned some things from Ana and had spoken to Kou twice in the week that had passed, learning something from Richard left Orin with a level of understanding that he could not always fully get from the female doctor as she was racing about the ship testing this and that. With Richard, the man enjoyed talking out his findings, discussing each new trait and the potential of the Telua. He had often over the past few days broken the blonde from his readings; this time, however, the mild-mannered man seemed almost mortified. 

"So....?" The blonde nudged the older man's knee with his shoe beneath the table, "why the noise? What new thing have you found out?"

Richard's skin darkened further with a blush, the doctor clearing his throat as he glanced to where the two women had plonked themselves down on the bench beside them, sorting through a selection they had plucked from the shelves. "Eh, well, I've just come to a section in Ana's notes where she discusses the, eh... sex of the Telua people... from what she's ah, 'coerced out of Kou', she's written..."

Orin glanced across at the paper to find that Ana had in fact written 'Coerced out of Kou!' at the top of the blue pen covered refill sheet. He snorted, his own cheeks lifting in a much more prominent blush as he fell back in his chair and tried to play off his sudden interest. "Oh?"

Richard hummed as he nodded, lips pursed. "They... ah... They're predominantly male, I suppose?"

"Predominantly?" Orin deadpanned, "Like as a species predominantly male or..."

"Or." Richard nodded again, eyebrows high as he checked the notes again, flipping the page over. 

Orin waited in the silence, one foot braced on the bench beside him so that he could lean his front against his knee and stare the man down. "You can't say something like that and not explain, Rich, c'mon. Details. Inquiring minds need to know."

Richard snorted, his head shaking in what Orin supposed was bafflement. 

"I mean... From what she's said they are a single gender species."

"Meaning?"

Richard fidgeted, "That they don't have males and females like us, I suppose, just... Males?"

"Fuck off."

"Orin!"

The blonde grinned, his eyes wide with curiosity, "Go on, then!"

Richard huffed, his gaze sliding to the other bench before he subtly shifted his body as if to hide his notes from public view. As if it was all some big secret, Orin thought with a smile; nothing Ana learned stayed a secret for very long. The woman would lay you bare for all to see if it meant she got to jot down the results and test something else.

"The Telua are a single gender species, from what I can gather. Though they appear male and are fully equipped with a male sex organ, i.e. a penis; each individual also carries inside them a small, womb-like organ that can, at some point, under certain circumstances, be fertilised. In other words, they are, from a biological standpoint, potentially both male and female. The Telua contain a second, smaller opening behind the shaft of the penis which expands when the 'faux-womb' has been implanted with an embryo and will further expand during labour to birth the child."

Orin's mouth was open, he knew it was. He leaned forward as Richard was speaking, his gaze almost enamored. "That's unbelievable." he whispered, whipping the sheet from Richard's fingers to read over Ana's scrawled words himself. "So, what, they're male but can potentially become female? Does the penis go away at any point? No that'd be silly, what's it gonna do just fall off and grow back?" He rolled his eyes at himself and frowned at Richard. "How do they get pregnant? Is it only some of them who have this... 'faux-womb'? Do some have like special sperm, or something? What the hell would special sperm be anyway?"

"Christ, Orin," Richard growled and grabbed the paper back when one of the woman glanced their way with a raised brow. "Lower your voice, will you?" He sighed and straightened, starting the process of piling Ana's notes back into the blue folder. "And to answer your questions, how in God's name would I know? Ana wrote down the bare minimum of what Kou apparently told her. You'd have to actually ask him yourself for... Oh God don't."

"Why not?" Orin was already rising from his seat, bee book forgotten on the table. He grinned down at Richard, "You definitely won't ask him, you're too in love with him."

"I am not!" 

Orin chuckled, pushing Richard's shoulder in passing. "I'm joking, Rich. Although, hell, with this new bit of information..." The blonde leaned in wickedly, his lips curved against the older man's ear, "Kou might be more open to a man's advances than you think."

The blonde dodged the swipe of the folder aimed at him as he straightened up, his laughter almost dark as he hurried from the room and darted out into the hallway. He grinned at Richard's muttering as he slid the door shut, turning his face up to the dim lights against the ceiling. 

Both... Biologically both. 

A man that could carry a child... Or a man that could impregnate another man. Granted, Orin had had the odd curious thought in regards to how the Telua might have been built compared to humans... in the downstairs department. He had had the odd fleeting thought as to whether they would look different or if... certain acts would be different... Obviously, there was going to be differences, he knew that well. Alien races just did not share every biological aspect, that would just be... Strange.

But biologically both?

They were like flowers, Orin supposed, as he made his way back to his room. Flowers had both a male and female component in the one blossom. The stamen up top provided the seed, or the pollen while the protected pistil in the centre was where it was all fertilised. But flowers were flowers; and trying to compare the living, breathing, incredible creature that was the Telua to a garden flower was ridiculous. 

What worked in the plant kingdom, was not necessarily a reflection of what would work in the animal kingdom. Orin knew of no animals that had both parts simultaneously. There were some that changed, of course, sea stars and sea urchins that he had read about who could flip from one gender to the next; but were they male and female at the same time?

He had no idea. 

And if the Telua were all outwardly male, how was it decided who would be the one to be... 

Fertilised. Why had Ana chosen the word fertilised?

"Orin."

Orin shrieked, his hands lifting to clap over his mouth. He met Auur'na's wide gaze with a shocked one of his own. That sound had been far too loud in the quiet hallway. 

"Are you well?"

"I'm not even remotely well," Orin sighed as he settled one hand over his rapidly beating heart. 

"You are not?" Orin watched the man tilt his head to the side, his smile amused. "You look well." 

"I..." The blonde could do little to help the blush that stole across his cheeks. Richard's voice was echoing in his ear and his thoughts were far too close to the surface for him to even begin to mask his face. 

Biologically both. 

Orin's green eyes flittered down almost against his will. The golden eyed Telua was clad in a pair of black trousers that wrapped snug around his rounded hips, one well-muscled thigh alone near enough the size of two of Orin's shins put together. His tail swung lazily behind him as Orin's eyes stopped for the briefest second over the near invisible bulge between the man's legs. 

Oh dear. 

"Orin." 

Green eyes snapped up, the blonde almost captivated as Auur'na brought lean arms before his bare torso to cross them deftly. He brought his gaze up further, taking in the Telua's grinning mouth and the way his top lip lifted with the smirk, flashing his fangs for a brief moment. Green eyes locked with gold and Orin felt his breath leave his lips in a slow sigh. 

What a flower.


	6. Chapter Six

Embarrassingly, in the week that followed his obvious observation of the Telua, Orin could not seem to stay away from Auur'na. 

The man was a near constant around the ship, drawing Orin's eye even if he happened to just be passing through. It was not as though the blonde was actively seeking the taller man out... He hoped. It was more as though coincidence put them together on a near daily basis; which was slim enough in chance considering the pair of them were doing something different each and every time. 

When Orin had volunteered himself for a day in the kitchens, it had been mostly to show off the stew his Mam had so often cooked for him. He had been happy to lose himself to the cutting and chopping of vegetables, breaking from his daydreams only to show a Telua by the name of Luhl and a red haired lad from Engineering what was cooked when and for how long. The kitchen was a small space, fit for only three or four at a time and so filled with steam that the surplus of white flowers across the length of the ceiling seemed to glisten. It reminded him of cooking back on Earth in an odd way; and while some of the alien appliances were different, they were easy enough to work for someone who had spent his childhood being taught to cook 'proper meals', as his Mam would say. 

He had been near lost in a memory of her when he moved one of the pots of cooked stew to pour it into the cauldron by the door, smiling as the smell of home drifted back to him as the broth simmered. The smaller pots were ideal to cook in, better than any his Mam had had, and light enough in weight to tip into the massive silver holder as each batch cooked. Naturally, though, the humans would have no hope in hell of shifting the actual cauldrons full of the batch meals themselves, unless it was on wheels; which meant it was usually left to one of the Telua to carry the thing to the dIning hall next door. 

Which was how Orin found himself suddenly face to face with golden eyes as Auur'na leaned across the pot to inhale the smell of the meal. 

The Telua's hair had been pulled back, in a braid that he had wound as a bun at the nape of his neck, it was a look that almost softened the sharp cut of the man's cheeks, made his face seem somewhat sweet. It caught Orin unawares, so accustomed was he to seeing the man's devious little smirk pointed down at him. Auur'na's voice had been a hum as he smiled up at Orin from where he crouched to lift the handles of the pot. 

"A human recipe?"

Orin had faltered only briefly as he glanced down, his cheeks warm before grinning and wiping his heated hands on the apron thrown around his front and swiping at the few sparse blonde hairs that had escaped his ponytail. "My Mam's."

Auur'na nodded as he lifted the massive weight of the cauldron as though it was little more than the empty silver stove pot Orin clutched in his hands. The Telua smiled. 

"Then I will be sure to enjoy it."

###

Not even a whole day later, for his charity, Orin had found himself volunteered by Richard to give blood to the vulture that was Ana. 

"C'mon Orin, it's for science! You're the only one so far whose had such a great reaction to the Avan healing serum!"

Orin had stared straight through the man, his expression tortured. "I don't speak to traitors."

He hissed as Ana withdraw the needle from his arm with a cackle, shaking the vial of precious, bright-red liquid in the blonde's face. "If Kou can be a gentleman and donate some of his blood for research, then so can you! Buck up, hon'! Good job Richard, I've been hounding him for days for that little sample!" Orin glared at the woman, pouting when Richard dabbed a cotton ball soaked in freezing cold, lilac 'serum' against his arm and shook his head as the pinprick of damaged skin vanished.

"Kou is a doctor, he signed up for this lifestyle, I did not! I study plants, for God's sake! I shouldn't be gettin' stabbed unless it's by a thorn!"

He shimmied his way off the trolley, eyes murderous when Richard moved to half-lift him down, and grumbled; "blasted thorn wouldn't make off with half a gallon of blood like a damn vampire, either." 

Much to his mortification, his snit had been witnessed by the source of his sudden fascination. He had turned to leave and balked as Auur'na grinned down at him, before the man passed through Ana's medical practice with only a sympathetic purr on his lips and a gentle touch to Orin's crown. 

Like a toddler. 

###

The following day, Orin had opted instead to attempt to be on level footing should the golden eyed Telua show up

He had rounded together a group of the other Botanists, to examine the tree in the ship's centre. The main area was a great deal cooler than the rest of the ship, the glass ceiling up above seeming almost ominous with the lights that had slowly dimmed to signal the ending of another 'day'. He held in his hands a flower that Kou had permitted the group take from the trunk of the tree. Those closest the trunk, he had explained, were young and seeding and not of much use to the overall function of the ship. So long as the group stuck with the small flowers, then the tree would prosper and the larger white blossoms could be left alone to do their jobs. 

Like on Earth, the plants of Avan produced oxygen and took in carbon dioxide; meaning the Human and Telua respiratory systems were extraordinarily similar. Unlike the plants and trees of Earth, though, the flowers on Avan seemed to give off an incredible amount. The very air around the dark yellow tree was flush and fresh, like breathing in a rain-drenched woods. Orin held the flower softly in his hand as a blonde by the name of Janna swiped his notes to take a look, her brown eyes narrowed to take in his small lettering. 

"How is anyone supposed to read this, Orin?" she grumbled as she bent further over the notes, the black roots of her platinum hair on show before she seemed to remember and straightened to pull the flyaway strands back behind her ears. She was Korean, Janna had informed him as she promptly sat herself beside him; Korean, twenty-nine years old, not thirty, and a 'Nature-Lover For Life!' if her t-shirt was any indication. She was also the same blonde that Orin had recognised from his near nightly trips to the library. Janna was outspoken and quick to question, funny and had a snort in her laughter that was somehow endearing. When she rolled her eyes at Diana's shrill cackle so hard Orin thought she might lose them in her skull, he realised he definitely loved the girl more than Richard the Traitor. 

He had turned to pass the flower on to the person that had settled on his other side when his eyes caught Auur'na. The Telua had been simply walking through, but Orin rose to meet him before he could even consciously decide he wanted to. The taller man's gait had slowed as if he knew well that Orin would follow, the blonde waving along to Janna's holler to meet her in the library later. 

"You make friends with ease." Auur'na's voice was soft, his dark brown hair loose about his frame. 

Orin shrugged, tucking his folder into his strap on pack as they walked and slinging the black bag over his shoulder. "They only like me for my accent." 

Auur'na laughed, the sound low and surprised, and gold eyes flashed down at him. "Is that so?"

"Sure!" Orin grinned, "It was the same when Mam and I moved to America a couple years back. The neighbours loved listening to her sing. She had a lovely voice."

Auur'na seemed to have arrived to where he had been originally heading, his head tilting as he glanced down at Orin before sliding open a door and nodding for him to head inside. The room was a communal one, Orin guessed; possibly one more heavily occupied by the Telua than the Humans. There were two lounged against a couch with a lamp above them switched on to the fullest, a jigsaw halfway complete on the metal table in front of them. One lifted his head and smiled at Orin as Auur'na guided him to a separate corner, the long-limbed brunette falling gracefully into a plush chair. He nodded for Orin to take the one across from him, which the blonde did with little grace considering there was a bit of a height difference in these chairs compared to the benches he was used to around the place. 

Orin scooted back with a grunt into the soft cushions, rolling his eyes when his feet hung above the floor. 

"Is she long passed?"

Orin paused in his shuffling, his head whipping up to look at gold eyes suddenly... Sad. 

"How did you...?"

Auur'na hummed, his legs crossing one over the other slowly. "You spoke as though you have not heard her voice in... some time." 

The blonde sighed, lifting a hand to scratch at the base of his throat. "I haven't." he smiled shortly, his lips twisting into a near grimace. 

"We ah... We moved to America for a doctor for her. She had this illness, a genetic thing that bothered her more and more as she got older. I mean, she wasn't an old woman; she was young enough, but she worked hard, my Mam."

The fingers of his right hand tapped slowly against his thigh, his head tilted in thought as he went on. "Dad died when I was a baby, a car accident. So, it was up to Mam to work and bring me up. She didn't really have any family left to ask for help, barr a couple of cousins that were down on their luck too; no point dragging everyone into her mess, she'd said. Grandad had left us a house and some money, but nowhere near enough to live on. So, she worked as much as she could to make sure we'd both be okay, but I guess that didn't exactly help out her condition much. 

"She got really sick a couple years back, took a turn. She tried to hide it from me, liked to put on the brave face. I found a doctor in the States that was specialised in her kind of illness and managed to convince her to sell Grandad's house. It was worth a shot."

Orin scrubbed a hand down his face, memories of his mother's hand in his own as they stepped off the plane. He clenched his fist against his thigh. "It worked for a bit... She was doing so well, seemed to be coping so well... I didn't realise that she was still wearing the brave face until it was too late to try something different. She passed in her sleep a week after I got accepted onto this whole adventure." 

Bright green eyes flashed up to watch Auur'na stare down at him, the Telua's face impassive and his eyes dark. 

"Knowing my Mam, she was only waiting 'till I got the letter I was hoping for before she went." His laughter was wet, and he averted his eyes as he swiped at them. "Geez, I'm sorry. It's something I've kinda come to terms with but sometimes the memories are... I mean they're nice, I love them, I loved her but they're..."

"Loud. Memories can be loud." 

Auur'na raeched across the space between them to swipe a thumb beneath one of Orin's eyes, catching the tear there and wiping it away. "Thank you for sharing with me, Orin. I see your pain and I understand it."

Orin had spent another hour with Auur'na, shaking himself form his own messy thoughts to ask about the Telua's day and how the man liked to stay busy on the ship. Thankfully, Auur'na had taken the subject change in stride, grinning down at the blonde and rising to take a selection of books from a nearby shelf and drag a table between them. Though he could not read the language, Orin had instantly dove on the Telua-written and printed-bound books, marveling at the subtle differences in texture and weight and ink and style. It was a welcome distraction from sombre thoughts. For the moment. 

But those thoughts failed to stay at bay as he made his way eventually back to his room, Janna's huff and Richard's 'boo' still in his ear from his brief run to the library to tell his friends he was done for the night. He smiled despite his suddenly heavy heart, his feelings fond.

His room was simplistic, as most rooms aboard the ship were; Orin was beginning to think as most rooms in Avan must be. Clean silver walls and pale white flowers housed only a simple, single bed with a fleece blanket so soft he all but sank into it as he threw himself backwards. There was a locker against one wall, tall and wide, where he stowed his clothes and two sets of shoes. One set of shoes at the moment, his hiking boots, as his tattered black converse were still on his feet and he couldn't seem to find the energy to get up and take them off. His jeans were tight against his stomach, a sure sign that the food was good. He would have to watch himself lest he do the impossible and put a bit of meat on his skinny arse. 

Orin snorted into his pillow, dragging a hand through his hand to free it from its tie and letting it sit about his shoulders. His mother had always preferred it long. It was a lovely colour, she had said, the strawberry blonde so like his father's had been. He had a few photos in the bottom of his backpack to prove the likeness, but he thought himself far more like his mother when it came to their round chin and small, upturned nose. Not to mention that he had her eyes. 

His lips trembled in the darkness of his room, fingers clenching against the material of his jumper where he rested his hand. The hurt was almost new at times, so sudden and sharp it left him breathless. While the memories were fond and he loved the time he had with her, he really, really missed her. 

A single tear slid down his cheek, his breathing slow and calm as he hummed a lullaby to himself, one his Mam had often sung.


	7. Chapter Seven

"Like this?"

Orin leaned back in his chair, fingers splayed across a sheet of paper that he pushed towards the Telua seated across from him. 

This was the sixth time he had found himself back in the alcove Auur'na had first taken him to, the place where he had spoken about his Mam for the first time in months, and the place where he was steadily growing a flame for the golden eyed alien. 

It was a small flame, he told himself, a rather unfortunate blend of fascination, curiosity, blatant admiration and a sudden, but abrupt physical attraction. A small flame... but a flame nonetheless. He had never been too pushed with romances in the past. The odd kiss in a darkened cinema screen, a chance awkward fondle in the back of a car. He had had a girlfriend for a short while in school who he insisted had broken his poor fourteen-year-old heart when she cruelly announced one day that he was boring. 

He had had a boyrfriend too, in college; that had gone a bit better. The lad had been needy as all hell and a bit on the dramatic side, but at least the relationship had ended mutually. 

With his Mam's illness and the move to America, he hadn't had much interest in anyone if he was being honest with himself, and he was so sure that he had slowly become the type to just not want that kind of thing out of life. That was not to say that he was not susceptible to the odd urge, here and there, but it was fleeting and moved so swiftly to disinterest that he barely got a chance to ponder over it. 

His infatuation with Auur'na however... That was something he did quite a bit of pondering over. 

The Telua was fast becoming a focal point for Orin, one he sought out every day as the ship carried them steadily back to Avan. He woke in the mornings to wondering if the man might be at his usual bench for breakfast, or off doing another job. His walks throughout the ship were paced to where he had slowly grown to realise the taller man spent most of his time, in the hopes the pair might bump into each other. While it was not yet a nightly thing, he had begun to start a pattern of popping his head into the communal resting area he knew Auur'na preferred. So much so at this point, that the other Telua there were starting to know him by name. 

It was a bit stalker-ish, he knew, he saw it. That didn't mean he could help himself. Everything seemed suddenly... more when Auur'na lifted those big golden eyes and caught sight of him. More exciting, more interesting, more fun, more challenging... Just More. The man's smirk was imprinted into Orin's skull so firmly, he saw it even in his dreams. It was as if those eyes that had captured his through the television screen all that time ago had a hold on him still. 

"Very good."

Orin grinned as Auur'na purred the compliment, the man's slender grey fingers splaying over the page to point out the lettering the blonde had been writing. 

"It may not be a language you will ever be able to speak, but you have a strong grasp of it written. You are quick, little one." 

The blush that stole across his cheeks at the nickname barely registered to Orin anymore, it now happened so often in the Telua's presence. He beamed across the metal table, before darting his gaze down to look at the swooping, curved graceful lettering of the note book open in front of him. 

"It was hard to understand the alphabet pattern, but once you pointed out the repetition of most words, I kinda got it?" Orin traced a finger over the word slowly, written diagonally like the English alphabet but with characters full of loops and sudden cut-through lines. It was unusual, but almost simplistic when he actually took the time to try to learn it. 

He glanced up and clutched the Telua-style quill in his hand when Auur'na's bright eyes met his instantly. A small cough masked the sudden intake of breath that he nearly choked on and Orin inwardly scowled at himself. He could go a day without making a near fool of himself in the taller man's presence, he was sure of it. 

"Is it your notebook that I'm learning to write from, Auur'na?" 

The Telua's gaze held steady for a moment, before he blinked and smiled softly. "It is. I write often, most hand-written books on the ship are my own. It is what I do." 

Orin perked, shifting to face the man head-on. Despite his, somewhat sly attempt at questioning, Auur'na did not often discuss himself to much of an extent, the taller brunette preferring to question Orin about the human's life so far. "Oh?"

A wry smile. "I keep track of the Telua Council-declared rules. It is my... task to ensure all voices are heard and each of us is represented."

"Like a notary? A record-keeper?" Orin queried, glancing over when the Telua by the name of Luhl walked by them to leave the room and made a sound akin to a sudden snort. 

Auur'na raised a brow at the passing man, earning a humoured grin in return. 

"Of a sort." Golden eyes flicked back to Orin. 

"That's pretty cool! It's always good to be able to look back on proper notes and actually have a written source! The history of Earth is a bit patchy here and there from stuff just not being written down..."

The blonde trailed off as Auur'na chuckled and shifted in his seat, one long leg lifting to cross over the other in a move that seemed almost deliberately slow. Green eyes flickered down for a sparse second, before Orin flushed to his roots and lifted his face towards the ceiling. There was his unhealthy infatuation, running away form him again. The Telua had been nothing but kind and patient with him, happy to teach the little human new things and learn new things in return and here was Orin coming in to slather filth onto an act as innocent as a man crossing his legs. 

Good God. 

"Speaking of notes, Richard borrowed some notes form Ana last week." 

Christ, what was he doing? What was he saying? Orin kept his eyes on a fascinating flower poking from one of the lamps on the ceiling as his lips opened to ramble on despite his inner horror. "He read a bit of it aloud to me in thy library, but I didn't much understand it all... All those medical terms just freak me out usually," He needed to stop, he needed to put an end to this conversation and ramble on to something else. Anything else... "It was about Telua... Biology." 

Auur'na was watching his ramble, Orin realised, as he brought his flaming face back down to chance a glance at the Telua. Golden eyes were bright with amusement in the dimming lighting of the room, the man's lips curving in a wicked smile. "Indeed?"

"Uh huh," Orin nodded quickly, feeling as though the blonde locks escaping his ponytail were scalding to his cheeks. He whipped them back behind his ears with equally warm fingers. "Ah... It was interesting! Y'know, the differences between human and Telua... bodies."

Green eyes glanced again across the table, to see that Auur'na was leaning back in his seat, one dark grey arm lifting to rest his cheek against his knuckles slowly. His tail was curled against his thigh, the black fur catching Orin's eye as it began to sway softly from left and to right. "What differences most interest you?"

Why had he brought it up? Orin cursed himself as he brought his hands down to tap against his thighs, why hadn't he listened to Richard and just let it be? He didn't need to know everything about the Telua, did he? Like... absolutely everything?

"The, ehm... The second heart?" Yep, that was fine. He could learn about that. He could talk about the fascinating, incredible way the Telua had a second, small heart. 

"Not the fact that we possess no females as a race?"

Orin's head shot up, his lips clamped together over the "yes!" that threatened to escape, but was obviously evident anyway if the way Auur'na's lips parted in a fang-filled smile was any indication. 

"Which part fascinates you, little Orin?" Auur'na's purr had become a fraction darker than the usual playful tone of his voice, his stance relaxed. "Human biology is so different to our own, it must be confusing to you. The Telua are male solely, but there would have to be a way to reproduce; or we would not have lasted so long in the universe." 

Despite his nerves threatening to all but vibrate him off the seat of his chair, Orin was captivated. His eyes were wide as he listened to Auur'na, his hands slipping between his thighs to still the sudden tremble there. It was nothing to be getting himself so worked up over, they were just discussing facts. That was it. Facts about... sex. 

"Well, yeah," his laugh was a tad breathless and he cleared his throat with a wince, "I guess it would kind of be detrimental to the survival of a species to have just a load of guys and no one to ah... fertilise." 

Why the fuck had he used the word fertilise?

Auur'na simply chuckled back, his tail keeping that slow, steady lull that somehow kept Orin from racing his embarrassing self out of the room. 

"We are male, but a vast majority of Telua are born with the ability to create space within the body for a child. This ability is achievable only from the bite and venom of a... Prime?" 

Auur'na seemed to pause over the word, his eyes thoughtful. "There is no translation in a human language that I can think of that might represent the term better."

Orin's mouth was open, his brow furrowed. "Wait... You don't all have like 'faux' wombs? And a Prime, is that like a special animal that you use to help out the baby-making process? Ana's notes didn't mention any special sort of venom!"

Auur'na's eyes grew wide before he let loose a bark of laughter, his face all but alight with mirth as he straightened in his seat. 

"A Prime is of the Telua species, Orin." 

The blonde was leaning forward, his full attention on the man's sharp smile. A Prime was a Telua, meaning some Telua could give birth and others could... what? Start it all?Auur'na seemed to see his confusion, his voice amused as he spoke. 

"The Telua are all male. Within our species, we have those known as Prime males. They are a minority. When a man wishes to carry a child, they request a Bite from a Prime. The Telua who has been bitten is injected with the Prime's venom which begins the expanding of the 'faux-womb', as you call it. The bitten will then mate with their chosen mate, or mates. It does not result in a child every time, but it is the only way a Telua might give birth."

It was almost too much to wrap his head around. Orin paused to think, his lips pursed. "So... A Prime is like the only person who can kick-start the whole pregnancy thing, but they don't have se- ... ah, they're not intimate with the person they bite? Does that mean that the bitten person can get pregnant by another Telua with a faux womb? Does a Prime have a faux womb, or do they get to start a family at all?"

"It is more similarly translated as birth-space, if this helps your understanding?" Auur'na was teasing him, Orin knew he was. 

"Most of our kind have this potential birth space within them, Orin, but the Prime do not. Once in our history, there may have existed a time where those with a birth-space balanced with the amount of Prime Telua. That is not the case now. Prime Telua are not often birthed, and most older Prime have lived long lives, with mates of their own. They are happy to offer the possibility of a child to those younger, but not so keen on the idea of bonding with another mate who may die before them. The Prime Telua live long lives, from what I understand." 

Orin's lips drew down in sympathy. "Sounds lonely..." 

The blonde stretched his arms out suddenly with a grunt, sighing at the slight crack in his spine as he straightened. "Your Prime sounds something like an Alpha man," he grinned, darting a glance across to find Auur'na tilting his head to the side to study him. Orin's smile broadened. 

"An Alpha? Y'know? A dominant male that typically leads the group, lives the longest, survives the easiest? So, are they like the biggest Telua? Like, are we gonna land in a week and I'm gonna have to be careful not to get stood on?"

For a brief second, Auur'na's eyes almost seemed to darken with something other than humour, his smile frozen. "No one will harm you, little one." 

Orin laughed. "I'm joking, Auur'na!"

The brunette's smile softened as he watched Orin stand, gold eyes brightening. "Typically yes," he purred suddenly, "The... Alpha's are usually the tallest of our kind. They are often broad of shoulder and quick with a weapon. They bare the largest fangs and are a great deal stronger and faster."

Orin made to gather his bag, lifting a hand to cover the yawn that was threatening to break through. How long had he been here for, anyway? He shook his head at himself and watched as Auur'na moved to stand with him, the man's height, while short in comparison to some Telua, all but towered over the blonde. 

"Don't sell your crowd short, Auur'na," he grinned as the pair turned towards the door to make their way to their respective rooms, "You've got a fair set of fangs on you. I bet you could take a Prime in a fight!" 

Auur'na's smile was stretched so wide, Orin thought the man might be holding down a laugh, his tail lashing behind him as he glanced down at the small human. 

"Thank you, Orin." 

"And I cannot wait to tell Ana that I know more about this than she does! I bet she'll try and find the first Prime she can on Avan to start testing the venom, serves her right if she gets stood on!" He was still bitter about the blood.

Auur'na's laugh was full and all but vibrated against the small blonde. With a sigh, he watched him tip his head back, a smile on his lips. The Prime Telua might be the best of the best Alphas of Auur'na's species, but Orin certainly could not see how you could find anything lacking in the golden eyed man. He was brilliant.


	8. Chapter Eight

From what Orin could understand of the information he had been given; Avan worked something like a free for all. Politics was not something that they had many words for nor, it seemed, any need for. From what he had gleaned from asking Kou and Auur'na, the Telua way of keeping order and peace was a great deal simpler than most human methods. 

The land of Avan was considered Telua land, undivided and all a part of one and the same. While the people were dotted all across the planet, in colder regions and in warmer, the mild stretching out to the extreme; they were all one and the same. The Telua who lived on the colder mountains towards the poles were no different in mindset, language or culture than the Telua who lived towards the middle hotter regions. 

Kou had been happy to sit with Orin, Richard and Janna one morning at a breakfast bench, his voice mild and his hands quick to gesture as he explained. The further the Telua traveled the lands throughout their history, the more minor physical difference between them became obvious. Those in colder regions, faced with little sunlight and longer nights were often paler in colouring. Lighter coats with thicker fur and sharper claws made for less complications when trying to store heat, to climb mountains and ice ridges. They often had bright eyes, pale and usually silver or grey.

"Is that where you're from, Kou?" Janna had interjected, taking in the man's pale fur and paler silver eyes. Kou had briefly halted, his smile wide. "It is where my sire comes from, but the cold never appealed much to me. I traveled young towards the centre and settled in Teh."

Teh was where it had been decided the humans would be brought first. The outer lands had been deemed too dangerous, too steep and cold to ensure their safety or survival. Kou had explained how they had contemplated bringing the group straight to the middle, the equator of the planet. Again, that idea was nixed when the Telua realised that some humans did not react well to constant sunlight; for which Orin was immensely grateful. Pale, freckled skin and constant sunlight were not things that bode well together. 

From how Kou spoke of it, the middle was a beautiful part of the planet, but extremely hot. The days were long and bright, with little cloud to cover the sun, and plants that grew so tall they near eclipsed houses at just a decade old. The land was flat but sand-like, and the Telua there usually darker in fur and with eyes in shades of yellow, bronze and... gold. Orin had glanced at Auur'na seated at another table at that; green eyes quick to take in the Telua's narrowed golden eyes as he read over some large sheet he and another Telua had spread between them, the pair seeming deep in discussion. The man's fur was soft and short, and a dark grey that Orin had yet to see on any other Telua aboard. 

Teh, Kou had said with a smile, bringing the blonde's attention back to him, was the only answer; The place had been decided as best. It was a larger settlement, and a trade-town where most Telua gathered to swap goods, services or stories. It was a focal point for its equal distance to both the extreme cold and the extreme heat, while also being a site that held an abundance of Telua history. As a spot that would ensure some semblance of safety for the humans, while helping to teach them the history of Avan and allowing them the interactions from those of other regions; it was near perfect.

Teh was operated by a Council that upheld the written rules, rules that were followed throughout the world despite the miles and miles between lands and seas. It was a guideline that the Telua lived by, in order to bring about the least amount of harm to the planet around them and to themselves. Those who had broken the rules were always brought before the Council. 

"And is the Council always the same Telua?" Richard had been jotting down notes furiously, his hand paused for a moment over the ink-smudged note book to glance up at Kou.   
The gentle doctor smiled down at him, his eyes alight with humour. "We live long, Richard, but we do not live forever. The Council is made from those chosen by the people. The Telua choose from each region, each settlement those to represent them. They pick those who have proven themselves fair through service provided or deeds done. The... Prime Telua are often members of Council, they remember our history best. Some of them have lived through it."

Kou had been as hesitant to use the word Prime as Auur'na when Orin had first queried it with him. While it seemed to be something of a translation, it was as though there was nothing in the human languages that was a direct translation for these Alpha Telua. 

They were respected, Orin could gather as much from how Kou and Luhl spoke of them. Usually physically larger than most other Telua, they were often tasked with duties that were clear positions of power. They were guards for settlements, trained as warriors in defense and offense. They were Council members, Guides when trekking to find new settlements, leaders and, he got the sense, the top of the food chain. 

For a brief moment while he had been speaking with Kou on what Auur'na had said to him, Orin's memory had flickered back to the first ever Telua that had stepped off the ship onto Earth. He had never caught the man's name because he had not given it. Though his smile had been bright and his stance friendly, he took in everything. He had stood to the back with Auur'na each time they had been brought and broadcast somewhere new, his dark eyes surveying his surroundings with a severity that Orin was sure now, was vigillance. As much as Auur'na's presence had seemed to stand out, to draw Orin's eye; this Telua's efforts had seemed to be to blend in. 

It was easy to spot a child that would become a Prime, Kou had stated. They were usually taller than their peers, brazen in false bravado and a degree more wild. What made a Telua a Prime was considered an ancient trait, a biological throwback that happened rarely and brought with it a more instinctive, primitive version of the mindset the Telua held now. It took years of discipline for a Prime to meld easily with settlements, years that a child simply did not have. 

But, Kou had held a hand out, a gesture that Orin was starting to realise meant he needed their attention. He had stopped his talk until both Richard and Janna had lifted their heads from their notebooks, Orin's already long forgotten on his lap. 

"Just because they are a child, does not mean they are less dangerous." Kou had stared at them, his mouth grim. "I will be sending out a booklet with each human of what is safe and what is not, that we know of. Prime Venom is something that we believe could quite easily kill a human."

Orin blinked slowly, his mouth dry as Kou continued. 

"We have limited sources and labs to work with here, and I cannot show her everything until we are home, but Ana and I agree that Prime Venom may react with fatal negativity when injected into human tissue. While humans have nothing to fear from a Prime Telua who is grown; you have everything to fear from a Prime child who may bite if afraid or angry. Do you understand?"

Janna's "yes, sir!" had been followed by a side eye at the two men beside her, her mouth stretching in a grimace. Richard had nodded slowly, his lips already parted on his next question. Orin felt a shiver race up his spine and slid his gaze to the table he had been focused on earlier, his mouth twisting to still a smile when he found a pair of golden eyes focused on him. As he watched, Auur'na tucked the sheet he had been studying away in a bag, his smile swift as he closed one eye swiftly in a wink.

Orin thought the sudden rush of blood to his cheeks might just about do him in. 

###

They were above Avan. 

Orin stared with wide-eyes down at the planet as the ship descended, his hand clutched tight around Richard's shirt as the other man all but pressed himself against the glass. Janna was weeping where she had draped herself across Orin's back, the scant two inches she held over him in height she was using now to peer over the top of his blonde head. 

"It's so beautiful!" she gasped. 

Orin had to agree, his mouth agape as he took in the planet. It was a mass of colour already, baby blues and lilacs and pinks melding like some magnificent painting into greys and silvers, snow-white and pale yellow. 

It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life. It blurred past as they neared it, the speed of the ship a real thing now in the vibrating hum against the massive pane of glass that nearly every human was staring out of. It was as if the metal around them knew they were almost home, it felt almost warm beneath the soft soles of his cons. 

They were here. 

Colours rushed them by as the ship picked up more speed, human gasps and sudden shrieks of excitement met with Telua purrs of contentment and dark chuckles of endearment. The ship pushed on, rushing by until nothing was solid and the air in the hall grew warm to breathe in, scorching down Orin's throat. 

And then, suddenly, there was sky. 

An endless sky of the palest blue, the sun nearly blinding him where it rested far away and drawing a delighted laugh form Janna. She crowded him closer until he huffed and pushed her onto Richard. The tall American was all but shell-shocked, his dark eyes wide and his brown hair draped across his forehead where he had given up pushing it back. He took Janna's excited bouncing against his shoulder with no outward reaction that he even felt the girl. 

Orin glanced down at the fields and fields of lilac coloured grass beneath them, at the hills and sharp slants of lands that grew what seemed like thousands of the same type of massive yellow tree at the centre of the ship. The silver flowers caught the glimmer of the sun even from as high up as they were, nearly sparkling and drawing a delighted hum from the flower-lover beside him. As the ship veered, the sun slanted through the window again and Orin sprung back from it, his hands lifting to shield his eyes. He took another step back as Janna bounced into the space he had vacated, laughing as he blinked the spots from his eyes. 

Strong hands were on his arms suddenly, pulling him back from the crowd that was getting more and more excited, more eager to budge against one another and throw their hands up with a cheer. 

He blinked up at the person that had pulled him from being suddenly trampled, tears from the sting of the sun pooling in the corner of his eyes despite the smile on his face. 

"They probably wouldn't have stood on me, y'know; they have some bit of decorum." 

Auur'na merely raised a dark brow down at him, the Telua's lips twitching as though to fend off a smile. "You were blinded, you did not see the speed at which they raced the viewscreen."

Orin chuckled, taking a moment in his bravado to lean his weight back against the Telua's front. He was so very small where he stood now, at the back of a cheering crowd with his blonde hair barely brushing the chest of the creature behind him. Auur'na's hands tightened on his arms, long grey fingers wrapping around the slender limbs with an ease that was almost funny. 

"They're excited," Orin said, his voice a hush against the sudden noise of the humans, the Telua among them cheering and laughing, their voices almost blending in to it all. 

"And you?" Auur'na purred, leaning over the top of Orin's head and peering down at him, his golden eyes suddenly curious. 

Him? 

Orin stared up at the Telua, his lips parting on a gasp. His heart was fluttering in his chest, so quick he was sure it had to be visible against the pale peach of his shirt. He felt the ship veer downwards, another cheer lifting from the people around him, but could not bring himself to look away from those eyes that held him so captive. The blonde broke into a smile, wide and bright.

"I'm happy." 

Hell, the whole ship could go down right now and Orin would probably not even notice so long as those golden eyes kept a hold of his. 

Auur'na's face seemed to soften, his lips parting as if to speak, only to lift his head suddenly and glance out of the window. A flash of something lit his features before he chuckled. "You will want to see this, little one." 

It would have probably been impolite to point out to the Telua that his short arse was not going to be seeing anything out of that window anytime soon with the amount of people in front of him. He had lowered his head back down, standing up on his tip-toes to at least give an attempt at having a look, when the hands on his arms were moving and, suddenly, grasping him around the waist. 

With a short squeal of surprise, he was lifted as though he weighed little more than a sack of vegetables. Auur'na's fingers very near touched where they wrapped fully around his midsection. The Telua lifted him until he was nearly eye-level, before settling Orin's backside against one of his rounded hips, one hand dropping down to hold the blonde's lower back; like he was some overgrown toddler.

Now, now the ship could crash. 

Orin peeled wide eyes away from Auur'na's chuckling face to stare out the window. The ship was lower, much lower than he thought, weaving near effortlessly through reaching arms of spindly silver branches and massive white blossoms. The flowers had to be the size of boulders, they glittered and pulsed with their own movement and they were one of the most magnificent plants Orin had ever seen in his life. They reached out as though to touch the ship, one sweeping against the window like a beast about to prowl. They were new and incredible and... 

And Orin could feel Auur'na's pulse where his thigh was resting against the Telua's stomach. His breath hitched, his own heartbeat a panicked stutter. Could Auur'na feel that? With the way one graceful ear was so close to Orin's lips... Could he hear it? 

The blonde kept his gaze resolutely on the window, eyes open wide and chest lifting with the effort to control his breathing. A new world was sprawling out before him and every ounce of his concentration, his entire sense of self was focused on that steady, slow-paced pulse; on Auur'na's heartbeat. 

He was beginning to think his little infatuation was fast becoming something a tad more complicated.


	9. Chapter Nine

The ship had landed in a lilac coloured field of tiny flowers, so small they looked as though they would barely scuff the sides of their shoes. 

They were here. 

Orin had almost missed it in his self-indulgent thoughts as Auur'na slid him back down to land on the floor of the craft. The Telua's fur was short, soft where it rubbed against Orin's arms as the man grinned and pushed him gently towards the pair rushing to meet him. 

"I thought you got smushed," Janna supplied with a smile, "but then I caught sight of you and realised you probably had the best seat in the house." 

Orin glared up at the woman, cheeks a vivid red as Richard grabbed his shoulders and shook him; the tall, broad-shouldered man all but jumping on the spot as the crowd moved towards the only exit. The climb down the main ladder he handled with a lack of grace, Orin's fingers still numb with the feel of fur, soft and sleek, beneath his fingertips. He had balked, however, when he realised that there was no steps leading from the main doorway to the pretty, lilac field below him. 

"Oi!" he bellowed, casting a scowl at Richard as the man stretched his arms wide to the pale blue sky. He glanced back at Orin's waving hand with a snort, reaching up to where the short blonde was creating a blockage by the only door. 

"Just jump, I'll catch you!" 

Janna crowded round beside the taller man, her smile soft as she spread her arms wide around her. "The field's softer than it looks, Orin, just give a leap! It's not that far."

It bloody well was that far. 

Orin scowled down at the near seven foot drop, closing his eyes with a grimace. He took a step off the platform of the ship that had been home for the last four weeks, getting ready to brace his knees for the sudden impact... 

It wasn't bloody well soft either. 

Orin felt the jarr all the way up to his ears, his teeth gritting as he straightened to make way for everyone else. The ground was compacted despite it looking like a lush field, hard and almost like a forest floor beneath the soles of his shoes. It felt uneven as he moved forward, like roots buckled beneath the light brown mud. The heat slanted down on him with a vengeance from the crystal clear sky, already warming his skin. 

"Do you think Kou will let us go to our bags before we get a tour around? I forgot my notebook." Janna squinted upwards as they moved steadily forward, the field sloping up in an incline that hid the surrounding scenery from view, as though the ship had landed in a valley.

"No idea," Orin huffed, glancing behind him to see the last of them leave the massive ship, the Telua no doubt still gathering all the human paraphernalia. "They must have realised that we'd never make the heat and luggin' all our stuff up a hill. Is it supposed to be this hot?"

It was scorching, but the air Orin breathed in was crisp with moisture. He dragged lungfuls in gratefully as he forced himself to keep up with Richard and Janna. The woman was tugging her hair back into a bun, her elbow lifting to nudge his head. "Dunno, they said it was cooler than the middle so all I can say is thank God we're not there." She peered down at him, "You look like you could do with sunscreen, though, I suppose it's in your backpack?"

Orin wiped his brow, scraping his own shoulder-length wisps of hair behind his ears with a grimace. "Everything's in my backpack. I didn't bring secondary luggage."

They had been instructed to keep going forward when the Telua opened the main door, to journey over the sloping incline and not to stop until they met the others. All their main luggage cases, their possessions, they had packed the previous night and stowed away in an underside container. Everything would be brought to Teh for them.

Speaking of... 

Orin nearly slipped as he climbed up the last few feet, thankful now for the grooved earth that made it easy enough for him to find footfalls; that incline had gotten steep fast. He grabbed onto Richard's shirt to drag himself back upright, ignoring Janna's snort of laughter to stare out at the view before him. 

The bridge that led to Teh. 

It was incredible. Sloping down and away from the valley were several pathways which seemed to give way to open air. The paths were wide enough to carry five or so humans side-by-side, littered in small, soft stones and butter-yellow grass. Massive, spindly trees of deep gold grew in random spots from the edges and sides of the pathways, reaching up into the sky with leaves so wide and dark, they offered shade over the heated stones. 

Orin was quick to scuttle beneath one with a breath of relief, his cheeks a fiery glow beneath his hands. He leaned a foot to brace himself against the trunk of the tree, only to pull back with a wary glance as it swayed beneath even his insignificant weight. 

"Some of them are old, older than our history," Kou's voice sounded behind him suddenly and he glanced over to see the Healer with three familiar backpacks over one shoulder, pale eyes kind. "Most will take light weight and sometimes the children like to play on them; but it can be dangerous when one, such as this, withers away form the inside."

He struck out so suddenly Orin let out a yelp, his leg lifting in a kick that hit its target with the sound of cracking bark beneath his foot. The tree seemed to shudder beneath the attack, before its roots gave way like tissue-paper and it began to fall with nothing more than a whisper of air. Orin watched it with wide eyes, as it fell down into what seemed an endless sky. The thunderous crash of it hitting the Earth below drew a shudder from him. He had never in his life see a tree or plant give way with such ease. "Was there something the matter with it?"

Kou shook his head, his dark ponytail draping across one pale shoulder. "Trees get old, but some husk from the inside outwards. We teach the children when we bring them out here to always test the roots first; if they are sound then the tree will not fall. If they are not, then better it be felled lest it fell a child with it." 

His voice was pained, Orin realised, as the Telua turned to Richard with a smile, handing back the man's backpack before turning to Janna. The Telua as a people, Orin had come to understand, were incredibly protective of their young. Children were looked after, not just by family 'units', but by the entire settlement. With the sudden decline in the Telua birth rate and population, and the lack of Prime being born, Kou had explained that children were not an abundant thing in any part of their world. While they were protected and watched over by all... Accidents did sometimes happen. Orin's gaze stayed on the broken roots of the tree as people milled past him, thoughts flicking back to the pained look in Kou's eyes. 

Children were important to the Telua, important and loved and cherished and minded. Those of their kind who birthed healthy children with help from the Prime Venom, and could then go on the birth another without a second bite were held in high regard. 

And apparently sought after as Mates. 

While there was still a great deal more he had yet to learn on families, partnerships and how these Telua 'units' worked, Orin would have to find someone else to coax the information from. Kou had flushed a most interesting shade of lilac when Orin had pressed him on the matter of mates, the gentle doctor shaking his head once and switching the topic to something else. Whether a mate was the equivalent of a husband, or wife... Or something a degree more lewd; Orin was ridiculously eager to find out. 

He yelped as hands full of cold cream slapped against his cheeks suddenly, spitting out the taste of sunscreen with a scowl. "Janna!"

The woman ignored his complaints, glancing around at the trees as she slathered him until he was sure he was a skin tone or three paler, his backpack open where it was still thrown over Kou's shoulder. He grumbled as he reached up to take it, only for the healer to shake his head down at him. 

"Auur'na has instructed I take your luggage to your room, Orin. The climb into the settlement is steep. As you are the smallest human here, he fears your reach will be impeded by carrying something." 

The blonde gaped as Janna's lips suddenly pressed into a thin line, her dark eyes lighting with laughter even as she tried to stay quiet. 

"I am not the smallest human here!"

"Indeed you are," Kou was saying before Orin could even begin to feel outraged, "I have studied every one of the human medical files. All forty-three of you have been committed to memory. You are exactly one-hundred-and-fifty... centimetres. There is no other human, nor adult, in Avan who is your height. Your closest rival would be Janna at one-hundred-and-sixty-three." 

Janna was five whole inches taller than him? Orin snapped his gaze to where the woman was cooing down at him, grabbing his cheeks and earning a filthy glare for her troubles. How was he not even five feet in height? He was sure he was at least five feet... He felt his lips twist, his mother's genetics had done him a disservice for the first time in his life. 

"I'm too short for Avan?" Orin's tone was one of disbelief, his shoulders rounding in a huff when Richard let out a bark of laughter form up ahead. 

Kou cooed something Teluan, his face lighting up for a brief moment as he put a hand to Orin's back and kept the blonde walking. "Never, Orin. Avan will welcome you, we will welcome you. The journey will sometimes be steep, but so long as you stay in Teh then there will be nothing you cannot climb to." 

Orin grinned up at the smiling man, light-hearted enough with the reassurance to blow a raspberry in Janna's direction when she hoisted her own backpack onto her shoulders with a tilt to her chin. He knew he was small. He knew there was going to be challenges ahead. Orin raked his gaze over the pathway ahead of him, where the trees began to grow tight together and the rest of the humans were pulling themselves over roots and branches. Beyond the next ridge was Teh, and from what Auur'na had told him, the settlement was mostly flat. 

Orin heaved a sigh, leaning forward before he took off at a run; barreling ahead of his three friends with a manic laugh. 

He was small. 

He was not helpless. 

###

Teh could be summed up in one word. 

Magnificent. 

Of course, if it got a second word; Orin was sure that it would probably be: Jam-packed. 

The settlement was set in a second, valley-like dip; this one shallow and bordered as far as his eye could see with trees the height of sky-scrapers and buildings that sparkled silver beneath the sunlight. 

The ground was filled in places with the same lilac flowers, through paths had been created through with years of rough-worn stone where the buildings seemed more clustered. It was impossibly big; too big for him to even see more of a portion from where he was kneeling, his arms trembling from that last step of root and loose rocks that he had had to pull himself over. 

The silver buildings came in all sizes, distinctly rounded walls curving around pathways with a natural ease and topped with slanted, copper coloured stones that filled the horizon. Some were large, so large in the near distance that they bordered on cathedral-like. Some were smaller, scattered and short like little cottages tucked away in this perfect, purple paradise. The trees around them acted like city walls, blocking out the worst of the sun with fantastic white leaves that swayed to the gentlest of breezes. 

It was amazing, Orin shook his head with a grin where he knelt, watching the humans approach the many, many Telua around. There were so many of them here; going about their day or pointing back and smiling at the humans, some happy to leave their errands behind to start walking towards them. 

Welcoming. They were all so... 

Orin shrieked as something collided with him from the side, the thing that had nearly run him over going down on top of him with a sharp yowl of surprise. 

The blonde groaned, shifting beneath the sudden weight to stare up into shocked, frozen face of a... 

Kid?

The Telua was staring down at him where he had pushed himself up, slender and smaller than Orin, and weighing a great deal less as the human braced himself on his elbows to take in the young lad. 

"Hello."

Startled black eyes stared back at him, the child's black hair loose and falling around him like a veil. He opened his mouth on a gasp, the sound foreign and coming from somewhere deep within his throat. 

"A... human!" The child beamed at him, smile wide and friendly and home to a set of... ridiculously big fangs. 

Thin arms abruptly latched their way around Orin's neck, the blonde smothering a giggle as the boy wrapped him in a hug, leaning in to bury his nose in Orin's neck and tickling him. Were all Telua children this tactile?

"Brac'n."

The word was low, spoken from just above them and Orin grimaced when the sun caught his eyes as he looked up. 

Straight into Auur'na's golden gaze. 

The older Telua took him in with a stoic face, eyes dark as they scanned over the pair before he exhaled what seemed to be a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping further. 

He cast a hard look down at the boy suddenly staring up at him with something wary in his young face. 

"Do. Not. Scent." 

Auur'na's English was oftentimes immaculate, more-so than Orin's own, he had begun to believe. Which was why it was so startling when the golden eyed Telua bent over the two and spoke those three words with the lilting, purring tones of the Teluan language inter-spacing them. Auur'na wasn't mad at him, was he? Orin's brow furrowed as he watched the two of them.The boy sidled back, his face impassive as he stared back at Auur'na like a child that might reach out and slam a hand down on the thing you had told them not to touch. 

With a huff, he relented, scooting back to stand and using one hand to yank Orin to his feet. The blonde yelped, his toes leaving the ground momentarily, before he grinned down at the boy... Brac'n. 

"You're strong, kid!"

Black eyes panned to him with a look of delight, a smile stretching his pale cheeks as he yowled something excited up at Orin, before seeming to remember himself. He cleared his throat with a thoughtful look at Auur'na. The older Telua had immediately relaxed, shooting the boy a soft smile and nodding his head. 

"I. Am. Brac'n." The English was heavily accented, inter-spaced as Auur'na's had been only moments before with the odd lilting noise; almost as though it was a sound of contemplation or expression. "I. Am. Sorry. I... hurt you?"

Orin could feel stares on his back, though whether it was the other humans, his friends or the alien stares of his new neighbours; he had absolutely no idea. Right now, he was so delighted he was barely bothered with being the centre of attention. Sure, the kid had nearly run him over, but he was talking to him! Orin chuckled and smiled down at the kid. "You didn't hurt me, Brac'n. I shouldn't have been on the ground, it was careless." 

The blonde darted a glance up at Auur'na, who was peering down at him with a grin, eyes bright. "You'll come to learn that I'm a bit accident-prone, I seem to keep making trouble!" The older Telua huffed a laugh, lips pressing closed over his smirk as he shook his head and Orin tilted a soft smile up at the man, before glancing back down. 

"My name's Orin and it's an absolute pleasure to meet you." 

Brac'n chuffed something Teluan back at him, reaching up to place a hand on Orin's chest. THe young boy's smile lifted with a chirping laugh to feel the human's steady heartbeat beneath his fingers. 

"Orin. Orin... Orin... Orin..." He rolled the name until it was familiar to him, and fell from his lips with barely a roll of Teluan behind it. Black eyes peered up at him with all the sweet sincerity of a child meeting a new friend. 

"I. See. You, Orin."


	10. Chapter Ten

Brac'n had followed by Orin's side as Auur'na gathered both him and the other humans into a group. The blonde had little say against the sudden attachment, what with the lad's firm resolve to latch onto his new friend's arm being met with a round of titters and enamoured laughter from the older Telua; that and the kid's grip was freaking strong. 

Despite his size and slim build, the fingers wrapped around Orin's wrist were steel tight; and the boy was quick on his feet as he pulled the human forward through the group. Sometimes he spoke his broken English, the words sounding firmer and more pronounced each time he rolled them off his tongue; as though he had never thought to speak them out loud before today. Which, Orin was quick enough to realise, he probably had no need to. Some of the older Telua that were dotted throughout the group seemed to have the same lilting, lisping accent as Brac'n. The Teluan language was so different to any human language, deep and curling and more like the vibrating purr of some great cat, or the sudden chirruping thrill of a startled bird. 

God, was it beautiful to listen to though. Even inter-spaced with familiar English words and phrases, it was so... Different.

"Orin... What. Age... are you? What age are... humans. Here?"

"Orin... Your colours are... Pale. Why? Are you from. Cold lands?"

"Orin... Do you. Like... Speaking with. Me? I will get... Better." 

"Orin... I am. Happy. Humans. Came. Here. Are you happy?" 

Orin answered all of the questions thrown at him with what he knew was far too wide a smile on his face. He was beyond indulgent, eyes barely taking in the interior of the massive hallway they were suddenly piling into. It was cooler, he took the time to note with a sigh of relief; much cooler than outside. The buildings were all the same immaculate silver metal inside as he had seen on the ship, though decorated with paintings of scenery and settlements, incredible golden furniture that looked almost too sleek to be wood, and long floor-to-ceiling windows staring out into blue skies and busy streets. It was beautiful, yes, and he was curious, without a doubt; but there was a little boy beside him who was practically bouncing on his taloned toes at having met his first human and Orin could relate to such excitement. He had always had such a soft spot for kids, and Brac'n was adorable. 

The kid's eyes were round and full of emotion, his lips dropping in a pout when there was an English word he stumbled over, or briefly forgot in his frantic ramblings. Orin indulged it all with patience, sticking close beside the boy when Janna drew the pair of them to a stop before they could collide with the people in front of them. The girl herself seemed taken with the youth, despite the solid opinion she had given a week ago that all kids were brats. Her resolve took a knock when Brac'n had placed a gentle hand on her arm in greeting, smiling wide up at her and Richard when the pair had straggled onto the scene to see what commotion Orin had caused. 

Brac'n continued to chatter as a few Telua began to speak, pointing out things around the room that Orin had no hope of hearing with the young Telua whispering in his ear. He was seven years old, he announced,with the pride of any seven year old, and he was told he was tall for his age. He had been running from the other children to see the humans first, when he had tripped over Orin. That didn't matter though, the boy had shaken his head firmly at Orin's apologetic look, because he had met Orin first and Orin was a nice human and he was a pretty human. Kou had made a noise akin to a strangled laugh at Brac'n's sudden declaration; the Telua's silver eyes full of mirth. It had taken both the gentle healer and the arrival of another, shorter Telua to eventually coax the child from Orin's arm. 

He had put up something of a fight, a kitten-like growl on his bared lips before the shorter Telua with the light brown hair pulled high in a ponytail had planted his hands on his round hips and glared down at the boy with narrow, ruby eyes. The man gave off all the authority of a parental figure, and Orin saw his own mother in the shrewd glare and pointed downturn of his mouth. Did they have a word for Mother on Avan?

"You will see... Orin again, Brac'n," The man beckoned the child to him with one, pale grey finger, his eyes soft and sweet when they blinked down at the human blonde. "Come now, humans must rest." 

The boy had been hefted up into the man's arms then, his grumblings quietened as the older Telua, his parent, had settled the child on his hip to carry him away. The gesture brought to mind his own... similar position only moments before and Orin had felt himself flush, his stomach dropping. Surely, Auur'na did not see him as a child, did he? 

With his own excitement and energy so similar to Brac'n's, his height a sharp contrast to every other adult Telua around him... God, Orin hoped the man's soft smiles and gentle touches were not just something he offered to every childish person that crossed his path. The blonde crept closer between Janna and Richard, hoisting the backpack Kou had returned to him onto his shoulder. He did not want Auur'na, of all people, to look at him like he was an infant. Orin knew he was young by human standards to even be here, on this new planet. By Teluan standards, he must have looked even younger, with his round face and short height. The only thing that Orin knew he had to his credit as a grown man on his slim frame, according to an awkward attempt at someone trying to pick him up, were: a nice, curvy set of hips and a "fine arse". He snorted. A lot of good that would do him when he wore clothes that were always a size too big; comfort being a necessity in his line of work. The trousers he so often wore were usually tracksuit bottoms or tattered old jeans held up by leather belts. 

Orin grit his teeth at the sudden realisation, standing on his tip-toes to watch as the Telua at the front of the room pointed out several hallways that led to bedrooms. They were in a room that was often used for travelling Telua, something like a hotel, but with self-service kitchens. That was the most he had gotten before his feet flattened to the floor again and he glanced down at the t-shirt that hung to his hips, the grey tracksuit bottoms beneath it were baggy and, suddenly very ugly. 

He did not want Auur'na to see him as a child. He was not a child. He was inexperienced at some things, sure, but he was not some little kid running around with his heart of his sleeve and stars in his eyes. Green eyes landed on the Telua in question as Auur'na watched the group from behind the speaker. 

He wanted Auur'na to notice him. 

###

The room he picked was between Janna's and Richard's, large enough that he could have splayed out on the smooth, yellow tiles across the floor, but not so large that he felt swamped by it. There was a bed filled with an assortment of blankets and cushions, bigger than the ones on the ship and high enough off the floor that Orin realised he was going to have to slide out of it each morning until his toes reached solid ground. There was something similar to a metal dresser taking up the majority of wall space to one side, with sliding doors that revealed rows of shelves that he was happy to unpack his few possessions onto. 

His clothes went first, a pale yellow fleece rubbed against his cheeks with a mournful sigh as he realised that it would likely be too warm for him to ever wear it; unless the season turned in this part of the planet. He rifled through notes and books, pens and bits of stationery before throwing the lot into one of the bottom alcoves. Toiletries he peered down at curiously, wondering if there was a communal bathroom, before he tossed them back into their clear case and dumped the thing beside his bed. He would have a look later. The last thing Orin pulled from his backpack was the only unessential thing he had thought to bring with him; a photo album. 

The blonde hesitated with it in hand, fingers gentle over the frayed brown spine as he looked at the front cover. It held a lifetime of memories in its few pages, days out and school, nights at home and awkward hand-holding with his brief partners, smiling faces and old pictures of men and woman he had never had the chance to meet. There was a scant two pages dedicated to the father he had never even spoken to, pictures of him smiling wide as he pressed his cheek against Orin's Mam's. The man had been handsome, with the same long, strawberry-blonde hair that Orin so often pulled back from his own face. It had been one of the nicest gifts his mother had ever given him, put together with such pristine attention and love that Orin believed the woman knew, one day, just how important it would be to him. 

There was a gentle knock on his door suddenly, the blonde rushing to hide the photo album beneath a red sweatshirt as he yelled, "Come in!" 

He was expecting Richard or Janna, one or the other to come bounding in; Orin had not been expecting to look up and see the ruby-eyed Telua he had met only an hour before.   
The man smiled down at Orin as he let himself in, sliding the door shut behind him. He was a fraction shorter than Auur'na, his arms less muscled and more lean, slender. His copper-coloured hair had been pulled back in a bun at the top of his head, one single braid loose to fall over one eye as he peered down at the human. 

"Pardon," his voice was softer than Kou's, gentle as though he was afraid of spooking the smaller man. "I wish not to intrude. I came to thank you." 

Orin blinked up, flushing when he realised he still had a hold of the balled up sweatshirt before he dropped it into the dresser with a confused smile. "Thank me?"

"Yes," the man purred with a nod, his smile bright, "My name is Ruuri, and I am Brac'n's Bearer." 

Orin felt his lips lift as he approached the man, laughing suddenly. "Ruuri?" he asked, grinning when the Telua nodded and peered down at him with some confusion. The blonde chuckled. "That's brilliant! Did you know, there's a human name like that too? It's written in Irish as R-U-A-I-D-H-R-I, but pronounced nearly identically! It means "red-haired King", isn't that amazing? You even match the hair colour!" 

He was prattling in his excitement, his accent thick in his pronunciation and eyes bright. The Telua was staring down at him as he came to a sudden halt, with an outright twinkle in his strange-coloured eyes. Orin rubbed the back of his neck with a small smile. "Sorry, I get a bit carried away..."

Ruuri purred, something unknown to him but soft and silken in the quiet room, eyes fond. 

"You are lovely, Orin." 

The blonde gave a chuckle at the unusual word, it was not one that he had every had used to describe him before, but coming from Ruuri's lips. it sounded like a definite compliment. 

The Telua seemed to shake himself, his smile snapping over short fangs. "I came to thank you for your... patience with my son. He was... fretful? Unsure... before your arrival. You calmed him and I am glad he found you first."

There was a pause, the man seeming to think on the next words, his full bottom lip pushing out in something of a pout. "Brac'n is a..." A Teluan word, low and almost like a snarl against his soft lips. It was not a bad word, from what he could see of the man's face, eyes proud, but it was a word that sent a chill down Orin's spine all the same. Brac'n is a... 

"A... Prime?" The blonde asked suddenly, eyes wide and thinking back on the boy's steel grip on his wrist, fangs bigger than Kou's smiling up at him. "An Alpha?"

Ruuri grinned, his chuckle low and sweet. "An Alpha... Top Male? Aggressive... Determined..." something else in Teluan, something that brought a flush to the taller man's cheeks. 

"Yes. A good word. Brac'n is an Alpha. A Prime. He has a temper." 

Orin thought back to the kid with the wide smile and nearly laughed. He had seemed so sweet! So full of fun and... 

The brief look of something stubborn and feral in those black eyes stopped his outright laughter, Auur'na's dark eyes flashing to the front of his mind as the man growled out something low and dangerous to the younger Teluan. Kou's words of warning came unbidden; 'Just because they are a child, does not mean they are less dangerous.'

"Ah," Orin sighed, nodding his head slowly, "Well, I think Auur'na probably helped keep his temper in check so. I didn't really do much..."

Red eyes watched him as he shuffled his feet against the tiles, Orin glancing down when they became a fraction too much to keep looking at. That single-colour stare could be something intense... 

A soft chuckle, and there were fingers suddenly carding through his messy ponytail, pulling wisps of blonde hair free. "You helped." Ruuri lifted his hand back, cheeks flushed lilac. "I wanted to gift you something to thank you. I know not of human preferences... Is there something I can provide you that you are without?" 

Orin was almost already shaking his head in the negative, glancing up when his eye caught on the half-open dresser. The rumpled clothes inside gave him pause, and he bit his bottom lip in contemplation. He side-eyed the copper-haired Telua, taking in the low-slung shape of his dusky pink trousers. The cut was not one he had ever seen in human fashion, the material tight around his curved hips, but billowing out from his thighs to hang loose until they met the tight cuff of his mid-shin. There was a slit in the leg that flowed as the Telua leaned from one foot to the other, showing a sliver of pale skin. Decided, Orin straightened his spine with a huff.

"I don't suppose you know how I might be able to get different clothes?"


	11. Chapter Eleven

Teh was busy. 

Moreso than that, Orin soon came to realise, Teh was bigger in every sense than any place he had ever been back on Earth. 

The buildings ranged in size and height and spread in circular patterns across the settlement, some as tall as apartment blocks with long windows that caught the sunlight with a glimmer. Some were small, more like houses or cottages but no less daunting when every single doorway he passed by was nearly twice his height; if not more. Despite its wide pathways and sudden, open clearings, Orin felt dwarfed by the place. 

He moved at a pace that was near jogging, tucked in beside Ruuri as the Telua guiding them both away from the 'hotel' the humans were staying in. 

"You will find your way back if you follow... paths," the ruby eyed Telua smiled down at him, slowing his pace to match Orin's own. The blonde glanced down at the flat, round stones that made up the main pathways, following Ruuri's finger as the man pointed out where they led in the distance. 

"Most... enclosures here are homes. Houses. A place to stay for the... passer-by and those travelling." The street opened onto a clearing suddenly, empty space filled with soft yellow grass, lilac flowers and scattered stalls through which the Telua, and some humans, were milling about. 

"Some of us... trade here often. Travellers sometimes stay to sell... the things they have made. They trade for... Supplies," Orin watched the Telua put a finger to his lips in thought, ruby eyes narrowing as he leaned down to point out several things. 

"Some sell crafts," He pointed to a stall to their right where a handful of Telua were browsing a sleek silver table filled with things full of colour that sparkled in the light. Jewellery maybe, or trinkets for the home, Orin was not sure. He turned as Ruuri directed, glancing to another side to a table twice the size of the first and covered with books and notepaper. 

"Some sell their... thoughts, their written stories." The taller of the pair grinned, moving Orin forward. "Stories so often get lost to history. Stories of other's lives and thoughts are... fascinating? Interesting."

Orin grinned back at the man. Ruuri had a persistent habit of tilting his head to one side when he was unsure if a word would be the one he was searching for. Despite the Telua's firm grasp of English, his small pauses and sudden smile when he remembered a word almost reminded the blonde of Brac'n. Orin quickened his steps so as not to lose sight of him when the man moved forward suddenly. 

"Sooo... Teh is like a trading place? People come and swap stories and trade supplies and relax for a little bit?"

Ruuri hummed, a thoughtful sound as he watched a group of humans cluster near one of the stalls filled with soft blankets in every colour imaginable. Orin glanced over in time to see a man with gold-rimmed glasses roll his eyes back and split off form the group, waving a cheery greeting at the Telua behind the stall with whatever question the group had been deliberating on. 

"Of a sort," Ruuri agreed with a grin, "It is the main... greeting point for the Council, due to it's historic... roots. Some of us spend our lives here if travel is not a... desire. I was born in Teh, as my children were." 

Orin jerked his stare away from the humans slowly approaching the smiling Telua at the stall. 

"Children? You have more than just Brac'n, Ruuri?" 

The man flushed a pale lilac, his smile fond as he carried on walking, further into the throng of browsing Telua and small, scattered groups of fascinated humans. "I do," he nodded, "Brac'n is my... First. His Sire's Heir. I also have a... youngling by the name of Lull'ri. He is not yet a cycle old." 

Orin felt a soft sound leave his lips, mouth stretching wide in a smile. "Wow. I can't even imagine what a baby Telua would even look like... How incredible. You're incredible! Christ, just the thought of trying to giving birth to two kids as a guy!..."

The blonde snapped his lips closed over his rambling, slapping a hand over his mouth and casting a quick look up at the man beside him. Dear God, what was the matter with him? Did he live to see how far he could shove his bloody foot down his own mouth? Had he offended the other man?

Ruuri started laughing, the Telua's ruby eyes blowing wide with something like surprise as he looked down at the blonde. "That is right!" He gasped, lifting a hand to poke Orin's shoulder in a friendly manner. "I had forgotten!" 

The happy noise of his laughter peeled from the man like something vibrant, a lovely sound high and light and full of genuine curiosity. "The human males cannot... birth young, correct? You are divided in two? Male and... Female? Which one are you, Orin?"

Well, Orin thought, that was what he got for bulling onto such a sensitive topic. The blonde flushed. "I'm a man, male." 

"Oh?" Ruuri seemed, for a brief moment, surprised, before his smile slid into something devious. "A pity... You would bare beautiful Teluan younglings." 

"Oh, my God," Orin scrubbed a hand over his face as the blush all but took over, shaking his head. He scowled as Ruuri started laughing anew beside him. "We don't even know if Humans can even biologically reproduce with... like, it's not as if there's been studies on. I mean, with the height difference, I don't know if humans could even like, you know... With the... With you guys." 

Eloquent. He was so very eloquent when out of his comfort zone. Christ, how had his mother raised such a bloody prude? 

"You are talking about... sex?" 

Jesus Christ. He was not having this conversation. 

"So is there a stall around here that does clothes then?" Orin's voice broke on the way out, his eyes frantic as he peered around the clearing in an attempt to find a distraction. Ruuri purred something that sounded distinctly lewd behind him, the taller man's face alight with humour as he put a hand on Orin's back and forced them to start walking again. 

"There is one who is... gifted with creating... Unique? Outstanding clothes," Orin nodded along, pressing his hands to his cheeks to try and alleviate some of the warmth. With the turn of conversation, and the heat of the sun baring down on him; he didn't think it was much effective. 

"Do you think he might have anything in my size? I don't need anything too wild, or will I need to come back with something I can trade or barter with?" 

Ruuri shook his head as they neared a stall towards the end of the clearing, a table out front holding a scant few items of pink and peach. Unlike the other stalls, however, this was not just a table or set of counters, but what appeared to be a canopy-like construction. A white, tented roof hung rose high in the air, with lengths of pale purple material draped around the sides to offer some degree of privacy. It was... bizarre looking. 

"This is a gift, Orin, you need nothing to... barter with." Orin glanced up at the Telua, mouth a grimace. 

"That hardly seems fair..." he muttered, "You've been so kind to me, Ruuri, I can't let you just buy me clothes." 

The ruby-eyed man grinned suddenly, face alight. "You will let me. As I said, Orin, you have already helped me this day. Brac'n will sleep... soundly because of you. Go." 

With the last word, Ruuri pushed Orin passed the front table and into the purple shrouded tent, nearly sending the small human flying and earning a squeak of surprise aswell. He was chuckling as Orin straightened himself, only to look around the tent with his mouth agape. The inside of the canopy-topped room was doused in hues of purple and pink, bright and soft against his skin. There were shelves upon shelves lining the material walls, clothes tucked neatly away on some and reels of fabric thrown about haphazardly on others. Mirrors stretched high above his own height and nearly just as wide, gilded along the edges and propped against metal pillars that seemed to be holding the whole thing upright. It was incredible, it was mesmerising and it was, most definitely, in need of organisation.

"This must be a pain in the ass to sort through." 

Orin's muttering was met with a snort from Ruuri as the man pushed aside a shroud of pink, silk-like curtain to stand behind him, ruby eyes scanning the area. 

"D'fi!" 

There was a grunt of acknowledgement from a back section, a sudden flurry of curtains and lace and the light thread of footsteps as a Telua near eight foot in height stepped out from behind a stack of shelving. "Ruuri!"

The Telua was one of the tallest Orin had seen so far, all but towering in the suddenly small space as he bared his sharp, white teeth in a friendly grin and strode forward. His hair was black, dragged back from his face in a sharp, intricate design of braids and knotting. The braids that hung loose fell about grey shoulders a shade lighter than Auur'na's. 

Ruuri thrilled a high-pitched sound as he met the man halfway, his hand coming up to clasp the man's waist before he was being dragged into a hug. The redhead chuckled as he spoke, tugging at the stranger's braids when the man purred a response in Teluan back down at him. Dark eyes that looked somewhat familiar slanted with laughter before darting over to the stiff-looking human half-hidden behind a swath of pink gauze. The Telua barked a surprised sound, smile widening as he approached with a speed that almost had Orin backing up. As it was, the most he could do was give a sharp yelp as he felt hands wrap around his waist and his feet suddenly left the floor. 

The blonde grabbed at the arms that kept him outstretched, his feet kicking out as he turned a scowl on the larger Telua. The man was speaking Teluan, quick and excited as he gripped Orin tight around the middle and turned back to examine him with a grin. Ruuri was staring wide-eyed at the pair, the shorter Telua's voice slightly panicked as he waved an arm downwards. 

"Oi!"

Orin nearly blushed at how squeaky the sound came out of him, clearing his throat with a glare as the man cocked an eyebrow in his direction. He held out a firm finger in the Telua's face, mustering his best angry face. "Put me down!" 

The Telua's eyes glittered for a brief moment, still smiling as he slowly placed the human back on his feet. He watched with a sharp-toothed grin as the blonde stumbled a step back, wary green eyes wide as he all but craned his neck to look up and meet the other's eyes. With one last suspicious glare, Orin suddenly nodded his head and smiled. "Thank you." 

The Telua blinked dark eyes down at him, one hand lifting to clutch at his chest dramatically. He cast a look back at Ruuri, voice soft and filled with a deep purr as he spoke; before turning his gaze back on Orin. "Eh," Orin flushed as the man suddenly crouched down on bended knees, peering at the blonde from a height more the human's level. 

"Hello, little one. My name is D'fi'nata, but most know me as D'fi." 

Again with the 'little one' nickname... 

Orin scratched the back of his neck, meeting Ruuri's smile over the taller Telua's shoulder. Obviously the pair were friends, and Ruuri was kind enough to be doing this for him. The Telua's accent was rough, but rolled over the English he spoke with ease. It was the first time Orin had heard a Telua who had not been aboard the ship sound almost fluent in the language. The blonde glanced back at the stranger, lips flitting in a soft smile. "Sorry about the shouting... I'm not the best with heights... Or exactly used to being picked up." He aimed a look at the dark-haired man that was met with a bark of laughter, loud and honest. 

"Apologies, little one. I will bare such a thing in mind when I meet the next human. I had not realised you were so... Small." 

Orin grimaced, following the man forward with only the barest hesitation when he stood suddenly and beckoned the human closer with one finger. Ruuri huffed something of a laugh where he stood to one side, his smile wide. "They are not all so small. Orin is... one of the... smallest."

Try, smallest, the blonde thought with no small amount of bitterness. He listened as the pair spoke beside him, D'fi opening a nearby drawer to rifle through and Ruuri canting a hip to lean against a silver table. 

The language was beyond incredible. 

The Teluan was spoken so swiftly, so smoothly from one line to the next in that strange hum-purr-chirrup mixture that sent a swoop of something warm in his stomach. There was no way to distinguish the sounds with words, or understand how vocal chords that had formed such a... guttural, instinctive language, could ever form human words. Lack of understanding or not, though, they had mastered most human languages in the time it had taken Orin to become semi-fluent in one.

A lilting, questioning chirrup had him startling as D'fi kneeled in front of him. On his knees, the man was about eye-level and Orin found himself looking at the Telua's face as he brandished something like a measuring tape in one hand. Quick, efficient fingers wrapped the length of rope-like tape around his middle and Orin found himself oddly taken with the pattern of black spirals that wrapped around each of D'fi's fingers. The markings were dark, sparse against the Telua's arms and appearing again to crawl up either side of his neck in a mass of spirals and curls. Oddly... Sweet. 

The Telua's voice was a lull, humming each time he found the measurement he wanted and whipping the rope away to measure something else. Orin watched him measure from his hip to his feet with a soft coo, turning back to Ruuri to whisper something purring that left the redhead almost doubled over in laughter. With a sudden cluck of his tongue, D'fi was standing, hands braced on his trouser clad hips. 

"Strip."

Orin blinked up at the man, sure he had misheard. "Sorry?"

D'fi merely grinned down at him, wrapping the measuring rope around his fingers before sliding the thing back into the drawer he had pulled it out of. "No," he purred, "Not sorry. Strip. Do you wish to wear your new clothes over your old clothes?"

Orin gaped, fingers pulling down the hem of his t-shirt in a self-conscious fidget. "But," he glanced over at Ruuri and found the redheaded Telua simply smiling back at him. "But, I mean, you haven't even made them yet! I can't stand here in my underwear, what if someone comes in!" 

D'fi and Ruuri both made a sound of understanding, the former's smile soft. "It will take me no time to make you something, little one. I need to see what colour might suit you, what shape you have." 

Orin cast a hesitant glance at the entrance they had come in from, only to find that Ruuri had already moved and pulled a length of thick, black cloth across the opening. The Telua held up a hand towards the impromptu curtain as he turned to smile at Orin. 

Well, the blonde rolled his eyes, he had bloody well asked for clothes. He dragged a sigh from the bottom of his chest and pushed it out in something of a growl as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off. With a huff at the sudden heat in his face, he folded the garment and tossed it down to the floor beside him, his fingers going to the lacing of his tracksuit bottoms as he tried to distance himself from his body. 

He was being ridiculous. There was nothing untoward happening here, except the thoughts in his head that ran clean into the gutter. Ruuri was humming behind him, probably not even looking in his direction and D'fi was pulling swatches of material from their reels, peering down at Orin with a keen eye that spoke of years of practice. He was just getting new clothes, the Telua just had a... different system, was all. 

Orin pulled the knot free as he toed out of his converse, thankful for the white cotton socks that stopped the chill of the stone floor from touching his toes. The blonde sighed, and closed his eyes as he dropped his bottoms, stepping out of the mess of grey fabric and pushing them to one side with his foot. He had never in his life been more thankful for the new, tight-fitting, black boxer shorts he had thought to buy before the trip. 

There was a low whistle and Orin flushed as he turned on Ruuri, hand coming up to cover his face when he found the redheaded Telua leering down at him. 

"Christ." 

D'fi was smiling, spouting something quick that had Ruuri nodding with a snort of laughter. Orin glared up at the dark haired Telua with cheeks that felt as though they might scald to the touch. 

"Humans are so shy," D'fi leaned down to wrap a swath a white fabric around Orin's torso, the material as soft as butter against his skin and almost sheer. "You are beautiful, little one, you need not be afraid of it." 

Orin snorted, biting his tongue as nimble fingers worked to form the material into something of a top. D'fi worked with a speed Orin had never seen before, in hand-sewing or in anything else. In one hand, the Telua held a blade that snicked away pieces of the fabric as he worked, a tool held aloft between the fingers of his other hand worked to sew strands together. It was small, the size of a common stapler as D'fi pulled it between loose loops and closed sections together. 

Amazing. 

Orin had all but forgotten his embarrassment, watching as the top took shape in a matter of minutes. The sleeves were off his shoulders and wrapped tight around Orin's upper arms, cut off before they met the crease of his elbow and plucked at the sides to make them tighter still. The main part wrapped once around his chest, folded into some form of pattern against his back and plain across his front, the hem of it pulling tight against his waist where D'fi held it as he sewed the back. It ended just as his waist began, above his belly button. 

He could whole-heartedly say that he had never in his life worn anything like it. It was incredibly soft, comfortable despite the way it left his midriff bare and hugged his body. It was... beautiful. 

"I love it." Orin heard himself whisper as he stared down at the top, stretching his arms out and delighting in the slide of fabric against the edges of his shoulders. "Oh, my God, it's gorgeous." 

D'fi cooed something Teluan, huffing a laugh when Orin grinned up at him, before reaching out to grab at a different length of fabric. The man purred something at Ruuri as he went down on his knees in front of Orin, head tilting to the side as if debating, considering. 

Orin heard Ruuri say something back, before ruby eyes settled on him. "Something like this?" The Telua pulled at his own trousers and glanced back at Orin, eyebrows raised in question. The blonde grinned, turning back around to D'fi with a firm nod. "Please." 

D'fi hummed, running his fingers along the edge of the emereld green material he held. "The same waist, yes. If I fold it tight enough, I can highlight his hips." Two large hands came up to pinch at Orin's round hips and he felt another mortfied flush creep up his cheeks. 

"But," D'fi paused, "With a slight change..."

In the end Orin had to admit that, despite his misgivings, D'fi was a genius. 

The pants were harem-esque in style. The waist edged below his belly button and wound tight around his hips. The material of the thighs and legs flared with each move he made, a slit open down each side that was held closed by his knees and lowers thighs with a bright, golden clasp. The pants were longer than Ruuri's own, the cuffs tight around his ankles. D'fi had rid him of his socks despite his protests, laughing his bark-like laugh as Orin grumbled and shuffled his feet against the cold stones. 

"Walk it bare, Orin, it will strengthen you. It will help you." 

"Says the guy with the talons on his feet," Orin had huffed back and Ruuri had laughed behind him. He had allowed Orin back into his converse only after stitching a design of golden spirals along the side of the white shoe, much to the blonde's amusement. 

With a sigh, Orin looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. He had never worn anything like the outfit he had on, never even considered trying anything like it in a fitting room. But, it was perfect. It showed off every curve, wrapped around every slender bit of him and the colours made his skin flush. 

"D'fi, you are gifted." 

Ruuri groaned as D'fi crossed his arms over his chest, his smile smug and filled with teeth. "Do not, Orin," Ruuri rolled his eyes as he approached the both of them from behind, "You will make him... unbearable to live with." 

Orin watched, fascinated as D'fi growled something low, his hand snapping out to wrap around the back of the copper-haired Telua and pull him close. Dark eyes slanted closed as Ruuri leaned forward to press his mouth to the taller man's own. The blonde blinked, dazed as the pair broke apart with a smile and Ruuri moved in front of him, plucking at his new top with a smile. 

Orin breathed a sigh of realistion. "You and D'fi?" he glanced back at the taller man, eyes wide. "You're together?"

Ruuri chuckled, reaching forward suddenly to pull Orin's ponytail from its binding and raking his fingers through the bright, blonde waves until they settled on his shoulders and down his back.

"We are bonded." The redhead grinned, "D'fi is Sire to Brac'n."

Orin felt his lips lift in a smile, his head shaking at his obliviousness. Of course they were together, Orin could practically feel the love off the pair of them in their soft smiles and happy laughter. He knew those dark eyes had looked familiar. The blonde beamed up at Ruuri, turning his smile on D'fi when the taller Telua ruffled his hair lightly. 

"You guys are amazing."


	12. Chapter Twelve

The sun was sinking low over the crest of the tallest hill in the distance. He watched it flicker against the horizon, the sky around it bleeding to brilliant lilac. The three moons that surrounded Avan were already visible in the sky despite the daylight hue that lingered still, bright and white and impossibly big. 

Orin had seen pictures of them once, taken from a satellite of their own from many, many miles and miles away from the planet. It did not do them justice. 

They hung close in orbit, near triple the size of the Earth's and, at the moment, mostly full. They held a silver hue that was almost familiar and yet completely ethereal, bright and shining across the gold covered field he was sitting down on. 

Absolutely breathtaking. 

"This place is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."

Ruuri chuckled behind him, the Telua sitting cross-legged as he ran his fingers through Orin's blonde hair, weaving the tiniest of braids throughout the blonde waves. "Teh is beautiful. Many places here are... magnificent to see. Earth has beauty also." 

True, Orin nodded slightly, bringing his gaze away from the moons to flit across the yellow field. The majority of the tents and stalls had been taken down with the approaching nightfall, set aside in buildings or carried off in other directions until tomorrow. What was left behind was a near empty field filled with soft, full grass and lilac flowers that felt silken and moist beneath his fingers, their pollen thick and pink and carried away easily on the breeze. 

"Sure," Orin said, grinning when a group of humans settled down near enough to them and a few familiar faces raised their hands in greeting. There were groups scattered throughout the field, some Teluan, some Human and some a curious mix of both. "Earth has beautiful places, where I'm from in Ireland has loads and everything is ridiculously green." He chuckled, running his fingers through the strange golden grass. There were patches that were a shade strange enough to be called lime, lush and incredibly soft. "But this world is just..."

Orin's wandering gaze snapped towards the entrance of the only standing stall left to the side of the market-place; D'fi's tent. 

Auur'na had just appeared down one of the pathways that led back to the main settlement, the Telua smiling bright as he clasped D'fi's arm in greeting. His brown hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, the locks soft were they fell against his bare chest. The pants he wore were a style similar to Ruuri's, though in a bright gold material. 

"Just... perfect." 

"Ahh..." Ruuri's voice sounded suddenly in Orin's ear and the blonde all but jumped out of his skin, "So that is who you have in your... Sight." 

The human shook his head, his cheeks flushing as he turned to scowl at his newfound friend. "No! I mean, yes, I'm looking at him, but not like... Like that? Auur'na is a... a... friend..." 

And, God, why did that sound so bloody disappointing to say out loud? Auur'na was beyond amazing... Orin should have felt blessed enough to even call the Telua a friend. 

"A friend? But perhaps you... crave something more?" Ruuri purred, and Orin panicked, watching as D'fi started walking towards them. Auur'na walked with him as they spoke, the shorter Telua keeping his focus on the other, nodding his head every so often. 

"Ruuri please..." Orin whispered suddenly, eyes feeling suspiciously bright, "Please don't tell him, he doesn't see me that way I'm sure of it... How could he... Please..." 

Ruby eyes regarded him silently, before the Telua's face turned almost sad. "You do not see... yourself, Orin." The man sighed, before nodding his head and placing a hand on the blonde's arm. "I will not speak of it. But... Auur'na is kind. He is good." Ruuri's lips twisted in a secretive smile, before he nuzzled his nose into Orin's cheek and the human had to fend off a hysterical giggle at the Telua's lips so close to his ear. "And he sees you."

Orin chuckled, of course Auur'na saw him. As small as he was, Auur'na never had much trouble finding him in a crowd. But he would need the Telua to see him as something other than some weak, little human braying for help for Orin to ever become even a potential blip on such a creature's radar... 

"Orin." 

The blonde glanced up with a smile, tucking his legs in beneath him in a pose similar to Ruuri's as they were joined by the two others. 

"Auur'na."

The Telua's eyes were trained on him, bright and wide in the twilight. Orin saw the man's eyebrows lift in something that might have been surprise, as he sank to sit in front of the blonde. Ruuri broke the sudden silence with a sound akin to a snort, leaning over Orin to place his chin on the top of the blonde's head and purr something Teluan that sounded almost snappish, if not for the laughter Orin could feel building in the redhead's chest where it was pressed along his spine. 

Auur'na's eyes snapped up, a leer passing briefly over his face as he purred something back at the shorter Teluan that had Ruuri burying his laughter in Orin's golden hair. The redhead sighed, pulling the blonde closer until Orin let out a squeak at practically being sat in Ruuri's lap. Whatever about Telua in general being more tactile than human's... Orin was swiftly coming to the realisation that Ruuri was more of a cuddler than most. 

"It is good to have you... Home, Auur'na. We... missed you." 

Auur'na was watching Ruuri's arms wrap slowly around Orin's middle, his head tilting to one side and his eyes a fraction darker. "It is good to be home, Ruuri. I enjoyed Earth, and the time I spent away; but I am happy to be back."

Orin grinned up at Auur'na, delighting in the smile that Telua directed down at him. 

"And happy to have brought friends back with me."

There was that word again... Orin sagged back against Ruuri, dropping his gaze to the grass he was rolling between his fingers. Was he looking to achieve the unachievable, here?

Ruuri mewed a soft sound, delicate and sweet. "Good friends... right, Orin?"

Orin nodded, glancing up at Ruuri with something of a grimace, he was sure. "Yep!" he said brightly, "Good friends..." 

"Orin!"

The blonde glanced up, flashing his teeth in an actual grin when Janna and Richard came bounding towards him, the former draped in a scarf of pink and purple that she flung over her shoulders dramatically. 

"Touch it, it's so soft! Oh, I love your outfit!" Janna flopped down on her knees, scooching her way between Ruuri and D'fi in a way that made the taller Teluan snort in amusement.   
She held the scarf out and Orin weaved his fingers through it, humming as he brought a corner up to rub against his cheek. He sighed, burying his nose in the floral scent that wafted from the material. "I got it from a Telua at one of the stalls, like, he just gave it to me! I'm Janna, by the way, hi! Hi Auur'na!" She waved around suddenly, training a blinding smile on the Telua around them as Richard dropped onto his backside beside Ruuri, something wooden and vaguely familiar-shaped grasped in his hand. 

"That's Richard, show him what you got, Rich!" The usually quiet man threw Janna a withered glance and Orin could only offer a silent apology for having half-abandoned the pair earlier. Janna's energy levels could just about power a small house if the woman found something exciting. Richard sighed, settling himself down comfortably before pushing the instrument towards Orin. "He called it something but I have absolutely no idea what. When I politely declined a scarf similar to the one Janna is sporting over there, he insisted I have something. He was quite friendly, Kou knew him, they're chatting still I believe."

The instrument was something almost like a guitar. Orin pulled it onto his lap with ease, turning the near weightless, red wood that formed the bottom bowl part around to look at the silver strings that were strung tight across the neck. It was much smaller towards the bottom, with a longer neck, and when he plucked at an errant string, the note was low and long. 

"Huh... It kinda sounds like a guitar..."

"It would be most similar to that," Auur'na leaned over, taking the instrument and holding it upright against his chest, the bottom curve resting on one of his thighs so that the thing was held straight. "Directly translated, it is a Strummer." Slender fingers dragged over the strings near the base of the open bowl, dragging out a flurry of notes that were deep and long. When Auur'na plucked against the middle set of strings, the notes were higher, the most similar to a human-made guitar. Each time he plucked, Auur'na's other hand stayed near the hilt of the Strummer, fingers moving to hold down certain notes. 

With a grin, the Telua handed the instrument back to Orin who grasped it with greedy hands. The blonde tilted it as he would have done with any guitar, the end resting against his thigh as he draped an arm over the bowl to pluck the strings. There was five of them, one less than the guitars he had played back on Earth, but they vibrated beneath the pads of his fingers in much the same way. He plucked each one and held the note slowly, closing his eyes and bowing his head towards the neck when Janna started up a conversation beside him with D'fi. Richard was talking on his other side, the man's voice low and soothing as the light grew dark around them.

Despite the pitch blackness of the sky as daylight ended, it was clear and the moon's light lit up the yellow grass almost white. From where he peeked beneath his lashes as he slowly learned the sound and feel of the music beneath his fingers, Orin watched several Telua move to light what seemed to be lanterns placed around the edges of the field. The cases were silver and glass, taller than himself and most of the other humans in height and bright enough to light the main pathway back to the village centre.

That would be for the humans then, the blonde thought with a smile. Telua could see near perfectly in the dark. 

Orin's fingers strummed across the strings suddenly, pulling a gentle, slow rhythm from the instrument's higher middle part. Though the shape was different, the size and weight unfamiliar, plucking out a song that his Mam had taught him for years was nearly second nature. His voice was a gentle hum beneath the conversations around him, a whisper beneath his breath as he lulled the words to the soft, acoustic melody. The sound it made was beautiful, the notes drawn out and gentle in a way that told him the instrument had been well-made and well-kept. He lifted his head with a smile, placing a hand over the vibrating strings to still the hum and blinking his eyes open. 

Only to find Auur'na staring directly at him. 

Orin's soft smile slipped away, his lips twisting in a self-deprecating little grin as he felt his face flush. The Telua was leaning towards him, golden eyes locked on the human's face and his own mouth slack with something... 

Sad. 

For a frozen moment, those gold eyes studied him, Auur'na's lips opening to part on a huff of something akin to a gentle growl; before the Telua was suddenly blinking and smiling softly down at Orin. 

"You play well."

Orin grinned, their little moment broken and something in his chest easing, as if whatever tension the blonde had suddenly felt between them was no more than errant thought. "Thanks, my Mam thought me." 

Auur'na hummed, smile stretching further. "The woman with the 'lovely, singing voice'?" 

"Yeah," Orin chuckled, "That's the one. She could sing for hours without give, could hold a note like nobody else. I always told her she was wasted not doing it as a career, but she thought that'd take the fun out of it." 

"She taught you to sing also."

Orin shook his head with a grin. "Nah, I don't really sing much... What about you?"

Auur'na looked taken aback, his teeth flashing in a bright smile. "Do I sing?" 

D'fi snorted beside Orin, drawing a weary look from the golden eyed Telua before the man cast the same look down to Orin, with a wide smile. "No, Orin, I do not sing." Ruuri purred suddenly, breaking the conversation he had been having with Janna to lean into Orin's space again. "You... sing, Orin. Do you also... Dance?"

Orin heard Auur'na's sharp inhale even if it was quiet, D'fi growling something low in Teluan that was filled with far too many sharp, white teeth and lilting sounds. 

"Sure, I can dance."

Ruuri chirruped a soft, delighted sound, casting a glance in Auur'na's direction. "Would you dance... With me?"

Auur'na growled, a low, rolling sound that dove straight through Orin's stomach and down his spine. He clenched his fists down on the shiver, lips parting on a gentle gasp. Bloody hell if that noise didn't do something awful to him... 

"He knows not what you are asking him, Ruuri." Auur'na's golden eyes were dark, the Telua's shoulders tense and his tail suddenly swishing behind him. Orin watched it with a heavy gaze, before his lips were opening. 

"It's alright, Auur'na," he spoke suddenly, smiling up at the sharp-eyed Telua when that dark attention was abruptly focused on him. "It's just a dance, and I'm quick to pick them up. It's probably the only time in my life when I'm not awkward." 

Ruuri thrilled, a low coo of a sound that brought the blonde's attention to him. Ruby red eyes were slanted as the Telua stared at Auur'na, his lips curved in a smile that was almost... smug. He glanced down at Orin and pulled him close, wrapping one, slender hand around the human's hip. "I will show you... how to dance, little Orin. You will dance... with me, at the Welcoming."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Orin woke with the dawn. 

He had not been intending to do so; comfortable as he was in the bed he found himself all but lost in. The group had dispersed late into the night, D'fi and Ruuri trailing away first and Kou arriving in their stead. With conversations unending and the atmosphere as bright as it was; it was pitch black save for the tall lanterns when Auur'na let out a sound of surprise and heralded the lot of them to bed. 

And it was, quite possibly, the nicest bed Orin had ever slept in in his life. The mattress sunk beneath his weight and the frame itself was concave, dipping in the centre towards the floor like some sort of sturdy hammock. Orin had wasted little time struggling out of his new garments to bury himself in the mound of blankets and pillows that had been supplied to each of them. The strange perfume of the linens was heady to his dozing mind, and the fabrics soft and plush beneath his skin. 

He had slept soundly and without waking for the first time in... well... Years. 

But in his haste to get into the bed the night before, Orin had made one fatal mistake. He had left the goddamn curtains open. 

The blonde groaned a sound both pitiful and petulant, stretching against the nest of a bed and fighting his hair back from his face with weary fingers. The window making up the entirety of the third wall of his room was full of the rising sunlight. The heavy blinds, that he supposed were for this very reason, were still tucked neatly against each corner, entirely useless against the blinding rays. 

Still, as weary as his body felt; Orin felt a small thrill go through him. 

He was on Avan. 

He had just spent his first night on an alien planet. 

He stilled a giddy little sound from breaking from his throat, not wanting to wake the two in the rooms either side of him. Instead, he wormed his way to the side of the bed and slid down with an excited wiggle. He had worked on way less sleep than this before, and that had been in an environment that was dull and mundane and everyday, boring old working life. 

This was a whole new freaking planet.

After wiggling into a pair of shorts a size too big and a t-shirt that swung down on one shoulder from years of being stretched thin, Orin grabbed his shoulder bag from where it was buried at the bottom of his backpack. He loaded it with a blank notebook and a handful of stationery that he was sure he wouldn't even need, before glancing over at the bottle of sunscreen and dropping that in with a roll of his eyes. 

The halls of the hotel were silent; corridors empty and doors closed shut as he made his way down the main staircase that wound upwards in a spiral to the higher rooms. The kitchen was to the... right? The blonde poked his head around a semi-closed door off the main lobby area, grinning when he was met with a counter stacked with fruits he had had on board the ship. The ones Auur'na had shown him he preferred were heavy and round, something like a mango in shape but with a skin that peeled away in edible segments that were gritty and sweet. They also did not have a stone in the centre, just firm, tangy fruit a brilliant pink in colour. 

That would do. 

He bit into his meal as he strode across the empty room, wiping a hand on his shorts before opening the door and glancing down at the beginnings of the stone path he had followed in only one direction yesterday. Well, today he would go down the other. The village was still sleepy around him, the sun barely starting to peek above some of the hills and buildings and warm the windows and fields. It was quiet, and soft with the sound of some distant instinct; almost like the drone of a hummingbird's wing but lighter still.   
The path he strayed down brought him further and further from the buildings, sparse, small homes the only thing around him as he walked. They were few and far between, with stretches of pale green grass that seemed to be winding towards... 

There!

Orin let loose a sigh of triumph, wiping the sweat from his forehead that had slowly been building with the growing warmth. He left the path just as a sprawling field opened up on his right, a small ways away from the last few houses. 

The grass was coarser here than the yellow grass of the main trading area, thicker and damp with dew against his bare legs. Spread across it in clusters almost as tall as his knees were flowers that were a brilliant shade of white. Fluffy and trembling in the partial breeze, the petals fuzzed into the air like dandelion pollen when he reached out to touch one, blooming wide and with a puff of almost-lavender-almost-rose smell that Orin breathed in with a sigh. Unlike the dandelions of Earth, the petals of these flowers folded out from their centres as the pollen cleared, flopping pale green and lazily over the dark leaves. 

Beautiful. 

Orin plonked himself down with a smile, throwing his bag open to rustle through until he could pull his notebook and a pen free. 

For how long he stayed there writing and examining the flowers that swayed around him, he wasn't exactly sure. Each new turn of a leaf or fold of a petal told him something new, something about the plant dancing in front of him. When a petal fell off naturally and floated to the ground, he plucked it up before it could even touch down; pressing it into a blank sheet in his notepad. His neck was taking the brunt of the rising sun, he knew; he could feel it in the stiff, hot skin every time he rubbed it with his fingers. But still, he bent over his book, fingers cramping with the speed of his writing as he sketched crude drawings of his surroundings and filled the spaces in between with words upon words upon words. 

It wasn't until he made to stretch out his back a third time that Orin realised there were eyes on him. 

The blonde stilled, glancing around only to find that he could see nothing in the clear field in front of and behind him. There was no one milling about the pathway and nothing peering down at him from the trees that enclosed one side of the field. He shut his book slowly, tossing it down on his shoulder-bag and stretching his arms above his head with a dramatic sigh. His hair was escaping the ponytail he had shoved it into, and he busied himself re-tying the blonde locks as he felt something move ever closer to his space, some innate instinct telling him that there was definitely something watching him... And moving up behind him... 

He could hear it in the gentle shift of the plants, too familiar with the rustle the wind made in the few hours he had spent studying them. It was something smallish, to be able to hide beneath the plant level... 

Something curious... 

Something... 

Orin turned suddenly, dropping his hands down on the plant behind him and blowing the pollen into the face of the thing about to jump at him. 

The creature shrieked, throwing skinny arms up and growling low in their throat before Orin was met with a pair of sulking, dark eyes. 

The blonde could do little to contain the sharp burst of laughter, waving his hands about in the air to help disperse the fluffy pollen. "Good morning, Brac'n." 

The young Teluan was spitting out tufts of pollen with a scowl, but at Orin's words he turned and beamed; his whole face lighting up. 

"Orin!" 

The blonde yelped as he found himself suddenly with an armful of Telua, laughing as he struggled to sit the pair of them back up. Brac'n was feather-light, his limbs slim and child-like; but that didn't mean his height made him any less difficult to maneuver. He patted the boy's back with a smile, ruffling Brac'n's black hair to rid it of the seeds and grass that stuck to it with a chuckle. 

"What are you doing sneaking up on people, huh?"

Brac'n's cheeks puffed out as he gave a little yowl of indignation, the fur of his tail puffing fast like the tail of a kitten. 

"Not. Sneaking... Hunting!"

Orin gasped, bringing a hand to his chest. "You're hunting me!"

Brac'n giggled, black eyes sparkling as he snuffled closer to Orin, taking in a deep breath and nodding. "Yes. To... Show... F... D... Papa?"

Orin saw the boy struggle with the word, unsure as he tasted each English one with a soft shake of his head. The Teluan family dynamics were not something the human knew a great deal about, least of all what it was the children would call their Bearer Father and the one that... didn't bear them? 

"Ruuri?" Orin asked, grinning when Brac'n yipped a response that the human assumed to be a yes, his fangs dragging against his bottom lip as he stretched a wide smile up at him. Orin smiled back. "Do you live around here?"

Brac'n nodded again, jumping to his feet and holding a hand, palm-up for Orin. The blonde gathered his bits and slung his bag over one shoulder with a huff at how warm it already felt against his spine. He gripped Brac'n's hand and was immediately pulled to his feet. 

"I guess I have time enough to say 'hi' before I go find out what the rest of the humans are doing." 

Brac'n rumbled a purr, holding onto Orin's hand in a firm grip as he pulled them out of the field, his tail swishing happily behind him. Orin followed along after the boy, though he was sure he didn't really have much choice in the matter. Despite his slender build and small height, Brac'n was strong for a child. 

For a brief moment, Orin remembered that the boy in front of him was what the Telua called Prime. Creatures who were stronger, faster, better in most aspects than most of the rest of their species... The ones sought out for their leadership... The ones that were...

Venomous... 

There was a lingering sense of both curiosity and sudden, sharp uncertainty as that little fact wedged itself in Orin's mind. The blonde stalled for the smallest moment, eyes on the little kid in front of him; before Brac'n glanced up at him with a beaming smile and Orin could not help but beam back. Brac'n may have been a Prime, but that didn't mean the Telua was any less of the sweetheart Orin was finding him to be. 

He drew them to a stop abruptly, cooing a soft sound as he dragged Orin up towards one of the small houses he had passed on his way out of settlement. Like the others around it, the house was built from pale, brown stone and had a copper-coloured roof that reflected the sun in an almost metallic way. Quaint and cottage-like though it appeared, Orin could also see the panels half-hidden beneath the sheets of metal that he was sure acted like solar panels. He had seen them on most of the buildings, if not all, in the short times he had spent outside. The Telua had an incredible knack for weaving technology into the world around them. Orin did not have much time to admire the outside, though, before Brac'n was dragging him across the threshold and into a pastel blue walled room that was filled with framed pictures, couches, a simple silver dining and bench set against a far wall and other, assorted ornaments and decorations. 

A living room. 

Orin made straight for the closest wall, staring up at the framed photos with a grin. In one, there sat a scowling Brac'n on a carpeted floor. The boy could have been no more than two, decked in a pale peach outfit with his short, black hair stuck about his crown in little, untamed tufts. Orin pursed his lips at the sight, shaking his head with a smile. The second photo of Brac'n was older, the boy grinning as he held something that looked like a crossbow aloft, his lips stretched wide over a grin and a proud, cross-armed D'fi standing tall behind him. 

The wall was full of photos of Telua, both posed and candid and Orin glanced up in awe. Brac'n, D'fi, Ruuri, some that he did not recognise and even one of Auur'na. Orin's eye latched to that one, taking in the man's loose brown hair where it fell about his shoulders, his golden eyes soft and downcast as he smiled at the bundle of what could only be a newborn infant in his arms. 

"That is. Me!" Brac'n spotted where he was looking, reaching up to tap his finger against the soft bundle of cloth in the photo. "Auur'na..."

Whatever the youth was emptying to say came out in Teluan, Brac'n making a face as if he was trying to find the words in English, his little nose screwed up in a way that had Orin huffing out a laugh. 

"Brac'n?"

Orin caught only the one word from the second, older voice that was speaking Teluan as they rounded the corner from another room. 

The Telua that entered was a fraction shorter than D'fi, tall and willowy; with snow white hair piled high on his head in a loose bun. Loose ringlets fell about a face a light grey in colour, the Telua's clothes tight and dusky pink. He glanced up as he walked, pitch black eyes widening as he trailed off and came to an abrupt stop. 

"Eh... Hi, sorry if I'm intruding..."

The Telua blinked, dark eyes closing slowly before they opened again, as if they expected Orin to not be there when they looked a second time. With a huff of something unknown, the Telua moved forward again, large fangs snapping at Brac'n when the youth whined as he was pushed towards the other room. Before Orin could contemplate turning about and leaving, the stranger was in front of him, leaning down until they were both eye to eye. Orin kept his mouth shut tight, taking in the sudden slant to the Telua's brow and the suspicious squint of his black eyes. The man hummed something rumbling and dark as he scanned Orin up and down, his gaze settling on the human's eyes with something suddenly like clarity. 

"Ah..." he purred, standing straight abruptly enough that Orin felt dizzy trying to follow him. The stranger offered him a grin, bright and wide as he reached out to clasp the length of Orin's arm in one of his own. A Teluan greeting. 

"Orin."

The blonde felt his shoulders slump suddenly, the tension from the strange encounter leaving him just slightly breathless and almost weak at the knees. Intense. The Telua was intense. What the hell had all that been about?

The blonde smiled, though he was sure from the answering smirk he got that it wobbled on his face. "Ah, yeah, Orin.. I'm Orin."

"I know." 

The Telua's smile only stretched further, as he turned and made his way towards the other room. He cast a glance back at the frozen blonde before snorting and gesturing him forward. 

"Come along then, Orin. If he is feeling gracious, then Brac'n will have left you some food."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

The kitchen was at least half the size of the living room, Orin saw, with a second, taller bench-like table set against a wall that was mostly window and glass. Brac'n was draped across one of the tall, white stools beside it, his feet swinging and his hands clutched on something that was vaguely pancake-shaped and dripping syrup across the boy's shirt. The strange Telua growled at the sight, high and indignant, as he pushed Brac'n's stool in closer to the table and stripped the shirt from him with a swiftness that spoke of years of practice. He tossed the garment into a basket at the end of the room, lips twisting in a grimace as he moved to where there was a massive sink built half into the stone wall. 

Dark eyes turned to look at Orin with an expectant lift of the Telua's brow. 

"Well," he drawled, "Sit at the bench." 

Orin could do little but scramble to comply, though his line of thought was confused to say the least. Still, the blonde tore his eyes away from the counters and cupboards he had been inspecting to pull himself into a stool that was slippy beneath his fingers and made climbing up all the more difficult. He huffed at Brac'n's chirping laugh, settling himself finally and pushing strands of hair slick with sweat from his face. Despite the windows cast wide open and the lack of doors on any of the entryways of the room, it was warm and Orin's morning in the scorching sunlight was catching up to him. He launched at a glass of water that was set down in front of him suddenly, gulping greedily while the strange Telua huffed an aggravated sound. 

"If you do not carry water with you, you will become ill. The sun has painted you scarlet." 

Orin glanced up to find dark eyes on him. Suffice to say, it was possibly the first time he had ever seen a Telua look at any human with such stern disapproval. Orin bowed his head, his cheeks flaming with the reprimand.

"I'm sorry..."

The man softened, canting a hip to half-sit on the edge of the bench and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He made a sound like was definitely a sigh. 

"Dangerous, that is what you are."

Before Orin could voice a reply, D'fi was bounding into the room. The Telua was humming to himself, reaching out to grab a glass filled with something amber and steaming and bringing it to his lips with a sigh. He spoke something Teluan, his grin widening when he turned and suddenly caught sight of the blonde human half-hidden behind the other. 

"Orin!"

The blonde grinned, waving up at the familiar Telua as D'fi cast a grin at Brac'n and ruffled the boy's hair. The dark haired man then turned and leaned around both Orin and Brac'n to pull the strange Telua with the pale hair into a kiss. 

Orin blinked. 

There was barely an inch of difference in height between the two, their lips slotting together with perfect familiarity just above where he was sitting, before D'fi pulled back with a grin. Orin felt confusion like a palpable thing on his face. "But I thought..."

"Orin... Good morning." 

The blonde whipped around to find Ruuri trailing into the room, the redhead smiling down at him as he held a baby close to his chest with one arm. Orin's attention snapped straight to a pair of black eyes focusing in on him from a pale grey face with soft, round cheeks surrounded by bright, copper-coloured ringlets. The blonde felt his lips break into a smile, a small sound of adoration leaving his mouth even as he lifted a hand to cover his face to try and keep it buried. 

A Teluan baby. 

Orin thought he had never seen anything so sweet in all his life. Children, toddlers, babies in general, he had always held a ridiculous soft spot for. There was just something so precious about the way they took in the world around them, their dimpled smiles and giddy chuckles. No human baby that he had ever seen, however, had eyes that followed him with the alertness that this infant's did. The child was tiny, the length of maybe a five month old human baby and yet; he supported his own weight as he clutched small hands in the front of Ruuri's grey tunic and stared at Orin with wide, dark eyes. 

Ruuri was chuckling when Orin glanced away from the child, the redhead baring his teeth in a wide smile as he reached on his toes to place a kiss first against D'fi's cheek, and then against the cheek of the pale haired Telua. 

Oh, yeah... That made sense... Orin felt himself flush anew. The reality of the situation snapped together in his mind like a puzzle piece, a soft noise of understanding leaving him. Ruuri and D'fi were not just a couple. Orin darted a glance up at the stranger and flushed when he found those dark eyes already on him. They were a triad. 

"Ifrin... Leave Orin be." 

The white-haired Telua... Ifrin cast barely a glance at Ruuri, purring something low and soothing as the redhead passed them by to pull a bundle sealed in cloth bags from one of the overhead cabinets. 

"I have done nothing with the little human. You wound me that you would think otherwise." 

Ifrin's English was immaculate. He spoke as clear as any aboard the ship had done, the faintest thread of his rolling accent behind each word as he slipped with ease from Teluan to a language the human would understand. Ruuri snorted, shifting the baby he held to his hip as he produced something that looked like a biscuit and gave it to the suddenly wiggling infant. "You need not do... Much... To intimidate."

Damn straight. 

Orin felt those dark eyes on him as D'fi moved to wipe a clean piece of wet fabric over Brac'n's face, laughing at the boy's vicious squirming. Brac'n snapped his teeth at his Sire, smiling wide when D'fi gasped and hauled the youth from his stool and into the air. The boy's laughter rang clear and bright and brought an answering chuckle from Orin.   
WIth a sigh, D'fi brought his son down to cradle him on one hip, kissing him softly on his dark hair. Brac'n glanced up at him with a sudden pout to his lips, pointing at Orin and mumbling over something hopeful and full of gentle chirrups. 

D'fi barked another laugh and shook his head, saying something back that had the boy whining where he planted his face in the man's shirt. The older Telua simply grinned. "I am sorry, Orin, that I must steal away your playmate. Brac'n has a morning lesson." 

Orin smiled up at the young boy as Brac'n huffed. "That's alright. Me and Brac'n can look at plants some other time, right? I'm sure you can tell me way more than anyone!" 

Brac'n was nodding, his voice thrilling a high, yapping sound that had Orin beaming up at him as he waved his goodbye, watching as D'fi carried the youth out of the kitchen and   
away. 

Ruuri rumbled something from beside him suddenly, and there was a hand on his neck. Orin yelped at the touch, squirming away from tepid fingers and slapping his own hand to his neck. The sting that resulted drew a groan from him and he flinched, his eyes watering. 

Bloody sunburn. 

There was a sound whistling into his ear, a distressed, soft little coo of a noise that had Orin squinting and turning slightly to find himself suddenly face to face with the baby. Ruuri was holding the infant on one hip, his fingers reaching out to pull back Orin's hair and his brow furrowed as he spoke something soft and harried at Ifrin. Orin brought his eyes back down to the little thing still cooing at him, big, black eyes framed with long lashes staring at him from inches away. The baby's hair was soft and floated about his head, his cheeks flushing lilac when he suddenly shrieked a giddy, little noise and reached out to clutch a fistful of blonde hair. 

"Ah!" Ruuri hissed, "Lull'ri, no!"

Orin felt his heart melt, the little thing's tugs gentle and slow, like an errant wren grabbing a flyaway wisp of hair for their nest. He lifted a hand to take the tie from his ponytail, fluffing a hand beneath the heavy hair to make it curl and bounce against the baby's fist. 

Lull'ri shrieked again, his small face splitting in a smile that had Orin squeaking a little laugh. When he looked up, it was to find Ruuri and Ifrin both staring down at him, the redhead with a soft smile and the taller Telua with a raised eyebrow and a tick in the corner of his mouth that almost threatened to become a smile. Ifrin huffed sharply, shaking his head. 

"Dangerous."

###

Much to his displeasure, Orin found himself being heralded to the Medical Centre by the brooding Ifrin. 

Granted, the blonde could admit that it was possibly needed. He had clean forgotten about the sunscreen that he had brought with him and his skin was starting to go a dangerous shade of pink that he knew would turn to blisters and reduce him to a blubbering mess in mere hours. Even walking through the pathways lined with taller buildings, and with Ifrin's height beside him eclipsing a fair amount of sun; Orin could feel himself start to sting beneath his loose clothes. 

"Is it common for relationships to have three Telua?" Orin asked more of a means to distract himself, sidling closer to the white-haired man. Ifrin was foreboding, if ever that word could be used to describe a person. His stance was rigid, spine straight and eyes wide as he took in what was around him. The Telua raised a brow at him, before sighing. 

"Family units can be any size. Sometimes three is common, often more, rarely two. A unit that begins as a couple will, most of the time, add another. Ruuri and D'fi began as a couple, I joined when Brac'n was a cycle old."

Orin nodded, his own eyebrows lifting. Different, he supposed, to what was common on Earth but not unheard of by any means. "That makes sense... I guess."

Ifrin huffed, a sound Orin was becoming increasingly familiar with in regards to the Telua. "Auur'na is... an old friend. When he settled here for some time, he became close with Ruuri and D'fi both; but the match was not for him. When I traveled to meet him, he introduced me to the pair. We..."

"Clicked?" Orin smiled, delighting in the sliver of a genuine smile he got from the stoic-faced Telua in return. 

Ifrin nodded. "We clicked."

Auur'na was a Telua well known and well liked. Orin had suspected as much on the ship given how popular the Telua was, how people often sought him out or asked for his advice. Not to mention, it was beyond difficult to not like the golden eyed man. He was genuine, funny and incredibly kind, if the time Orin had spent with him and watching him was any indication. 

"Auur'na's a good man." 

He spoke the words softly, but Ifrin heard him nonetheless. The Telua glanced down at him, a grin playing at his lips as he purred a sound low and dark. "Indeed." 

They arrived at the Medical centre not long after, Orin sighing as he gazed up at the stone front, taking in the many, many windows with something of a scowl. 

"Why do you look as though it has offended you?" 

Orin laughed, grinning up at Ifrin. Was he that obvious? "I don't really like hospitals... or Medical anything or other, to be honest. I've never really been sick enough to warrant one and the times I've had to go in with my Mother... Well, they weren't the happiest of times." Orin pulled a face, scrubbing a hand over his eyes as he pushed through the main, front door. 

No. Hospitals were not a place he felt in any way at ease, he didn't know how anybody could. 

"Orin, sweetheart!"

Unless they were evil.

"Hi, Ana." 

Evil incarnate had her wild hair pulled back tight in something of a bun, the odd ringlet springing loose here and there as the woman shuffled about a room filled with soft chairs and floor to ceiling cabinets. Orin was pulled into a hug, Ana clasping him tight by the cheeks as she stood back to look him over and tutted sharply. 

"Sunbathing, Orin, really?"

"I was not!"

"And how are you, Ifrin, dear? It was lovely meeting you yesterday, you're such a gent!" Ana ignored him in favour of turning a smile on the Telua that was grinning down at them both. 

"I am well, Ana. I am under strict instructions to ensure Orin is treated for the burns he has inflicted upon himself." 

"I have not! Ow, Ana! Stop!" Orin howled, squirming when the woman pulled at the fabric of his top and stretched the neckline over his raw neck. She shook her head as she looked him over, tsking slowly. 

"He's adamant to hurt himself. Right, well, thanks for bringing him in to me, dear, I'll be sure to take care of him!" 

"Orin? Ifrin?"

Orin wheeled on the spot, one arm held firm in Ana's grasp as he turned tear-filled eyes up on the Telua that has just come from one of the several hallways. 

"Auur'na! Help!" 

Auur'na was frowning down at them, gold eyes suddenly dark and his hand lifting as though he would grab Orin himself; before Ifrin huffed a low laugh and gripped the smaller Teluan's neck. "Leave the little human to his Healer, Auur'na, he is safe." The rest of the sentence trailed into something Teluan, the break between English and the foreign language clean and clear and deliberate. 

Auur'na threw a quick, almost panicked look in Orin's direction before Ana pulled the man behind her and the blonde threw his eyes to the heavens and sighed what was possibly the biggest sigh of his young life. 

###

They were in something of an office, Orin realised as Ana rooted through cabinets. 

He was stood in the centre of the room in just his shorts, the curtains drawn shut over the window and a vent overhead blowing cold, heavenly air over Orin's heated skin. 

"Ana, how is it you know everybody?"

Orin watched her pick up a bottle of something, inspect the label and fire it back into the press with a shake of her head. "Eh?" she glanced at him, "I don't know everyone, hun. No one can know everyone, yet, we only arrived bloody yesterday! I don't even know the contents of Kou's blasted office and he's shown me around twice." 

She growled as she dived down to open the lower presses, pulling out clear bottles and clinking glasses of Orin did not want to know what together. "This'll all take time, I suppose! I still have to decide which side of the Medical centre would be best for us to settle, still have to get the rest of the human medicine from the ship and refrigerate half of it... And that's even before we start trials on what works on humans and Telua both. Not to mention the experiments I have lined up to test the effects of Prime Venom on humans!" 

She paused, pushing her glasses back up her nose and reading another labelled box with a squint, "I mean, not on actual humans, that'd be pretty bloody disastrous; but like, blood and whatnot." 

Orin tilted his head back, closing his eyes as the cool air swept over his face and cooled his heated cheeks. Maybe he was more burned than he thought. "Do you really think Prime Venom could be that bad for a human? Like... Could it actually kill us?" 

There was no getting around the fact that the Telua were a species that far outweighed the humans in terms of physiology and capacity. The Telua were stronger, bigger, faster, could see and smell and hear better; they were silent on their feet and intelligent and capable. With the biological weapons they had in the talons, fangs and venom alone... Had they wanted to, they could have destroyed the humans. Had the Telua an ounce of blood-lust and ill-intent, Orin doubted that there would be anything at all left of Earth. 

But they were not like that. They were explorers, adventurers and scientists. They delighted in the world and worlds around them and had such a welcoming, friendly nature that Orin thought they could have won wars with welcoming parties alone. 

"I have little doubt," Ana's voice was grave as she lifted a glass bottle with a nod of her head. "From what I've seen even working with the small amount available to me on the ship; Prime venom is incredibly potent. It reacts with Teluan blood in a way I have never seen. I'm not even sure myself of their process of fertilisation, but I do know that it is not, by any means, an easy one." 

The woman tilted Orin's head down to spill something thick and smelling of hot milk over the back of his neck. He tensed as the substance heated for the breifest moment, before it grew frigid to the touch, taking with it the burn from the sun like some miraculous ice pack. "What do you mean?"

Ana worked the clear substance into the rest of his skin with gloved hands, lips twisting. "I mean, from what I've learned and heard and researched, its damn well painful. The Telua's organs shift, the faux womb grows bigger, they get an influx of hormones that flood the system so quickly they don't just get aroused. It's like a heat, but more severe, never heard of anything like it in my life."

She pulled back to peer at him, before tipping his chin back and working more of the miracle liquid onto his face. "But that's nothing compared to what I've seen it do to some human cells."

Orin peered up at her from squinted eyes, "You mean the blood you got from me and Richard?" 

Ana grinned, tweaking his nose and laughing. "Richard's yes, and a few other of my little Healers-in-training. Yours, I wanted to test out on other Teluan medicines, and I was right! Look!"

Orin glanced down to see that his skin was now a pale, golden bronze. The liquid was fast seeping into the surface as he lifted one arm that glistened in the soft, overhead light. The blonde beamed, taking in the colour with a small swell of pride. He had never had a tan before, usually just burns that he would have to suffer through peeling and slathering aloe on. 

"Woah! That's... Wait..." Orin scowled as he whipped around to face Ana. "You didn't know what this would do, did you? Did you just bloody experiment on me?"

Ana stared down at him, her grin wide and her eyes even wider. "Maybe."

She surged forward at Orin's glare, "but look! It worked! This stuff doesn't even work that well on some Teluan, and it healed your burns in less than a minute! Orin, that is beyond impressive, you have to give me that at least."

Orin was given no chance to reply as the door behind him unlocked and Kou was walking in, the Telua coming to a stop when he realised that his office was unoccupied. He cast an eye over the boxes and bottle Ana had flung from the cabinets with a weary sigh, before settling on Orin and tilting his head. "Your skin tone... Is it darker?" 

Ana beamed. "The burn gel I've been working on from the green plant you showed me! Didn't I tell you, it would work wonders! I think I've also hardened it from the original formula. It should work better on any kids now." 

Kou smiled, soft and sweet, and Orin could not find it in himself to be mad. Ana was right, it had worked remarkably well and his skin felt fresh and soft; as though he had been slathered in coconut oil. He shook his head at the doctor as Kou passed by him, only to wrinkle his nose. 

"Kou, did you cut yourself?"

The Telua stilled, turning towards Orin with an imperceptible furrow between his brow. "Why do you ask, Orin?"

The blonde flushed, "Sorry... I... I thought I smelled blood?" He sniffed again, catching the lingering scent on the air and glancing over at the other man again. Kou looked fascinated, his hand lifting from his side to shake a small, glass beaker in Orin's direction. The top was open, and as the pale pink liquid sloshed within, the blonde got another waft of the metallic, coppery scent of blood. 

He put a hand over his mouth and nose as Ana darted forward, her hands incredibly careful as she cupped the beaker and brought it to her nose. The doctor drew back with a shake of her head, perplexed. "Nope, still nothing. The interns said they couldn't smell it either when I asked them with the fresh sample yesterday. Orin, what's it smell like?"

"Blood," Orin grimaced, "Metal and copper and something... I don't know, like a chemical? It's strong, are you sure you don't smell that? Christ, what even is that? Is it blood?"

Ana shook her head, but her eyes were lighting up in ways that had a shiver snapping up Orin's spine. 

"It is venom," Kou said suddenly, his eyes wide, "Prime venom... And you are the first human that has been able to scent it, Orin."

The blonde glanced between the two healers, shrugging his shoulders slowly. "So...?"

"So," Ana drawled, fishing in a cabinet to her right and drawing out a familiar looking needle and tube. She turned back to the blonde with a grin and patted the silver table with a slap of one hand. "Hop up, I'm gonna need some blood."


	15. Chapter Fifteen

She would render him lifeless, he was sure of it, if it meant getting to run her little experiments. 

Orin rolled his eyes with something of a smile lingering on his lips as he left the Medical Centre, swiping at the residue of lilac cream that Ana had smeared on his arm to heal the pinprick of the needle. To be fair, she had not even taken as much as she could have done, mumbling something about not trusting him enough to go without fainting or some such nonsense if she took more than one vial. 

What she intended to use his blood for, he had absolutely no idea; and he doubted even the good doctor herself fully knew. As odd as it was that Orin could smell something another human could not, it was not exactly a breakthrough... Of anything. It was just... Interesting. And interesting to Ana meant it warranted further investigation, and further investigation could not take place without the necessary ingredients. In this case, Prime venom and Human blood. 

Where was she even getting the bloody venom?

"Orin!"

The blonde glanced up, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the midday sun to find Janna waving him over to a small group of humans. The group was a cluster of different people, some he was on friendly terms with and some he knew only in passing. 

He padded over, shrugging his pack strap more fully onto his shoulders and grinning up at the woman. Janna was decked in an over-sized t-shirt emblazoned in neon pink with dozens of cartoon flowers and the words 'You Grow Girl!', and a pair of denim shorts. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and at least twenty clips to keep it out of her eyes. "Mornin' Janna."

An inelegant snort. "Mornin' yourself, that's twice now you've gone and ditched me in two days, Orin," she flung a hand against her brow even as she pulled him close with the other one and leaned her weight on him, "however will I survive without your wit to see me through the day!" Orin squawked as she dug her fingers into his ribs, shoving her off with a growl. Janna flashed a smile down at him, "Aren't you lucky that I don't take offense easily, huh? That I'm just a nice enough friend to bring you along with me on my adventures. Nice tan, by the way."

The group moved forward suddenly and Orin was swept with them, stumbling only once on the flat grass before they were walking on one of the stone paths. "Where is it we're going, exactly?"

There was a pair of Telua up ahead that Janna pointed to, the leaders of the makeshift little group of chatting, laughing, bustling humans. "That's Vah," she directed his gaze to the smiling Telua that was ushering them forward, his dark brown hair loose about his shoulders and his light brown eyes soft and surrounded by tiny, spiral markings. "And that's Mal'na," Janna pointed at the shorted Telua, this one with silver eyes and a distinct, black mark that ran straight across the bridge of his nose. His hair was a black so dark it shone and hung to his waist even in the high ponytail he had pulled it into. There was something about the pair of them that seemed almost young compared to some of the other Telua Orin had seen around the place. 

"They're gonna take us out to the Art House, to show us some genuine, Teluan artwork! You would know this, by the way, if you'd stayed at the Hotel long enough to realise that some volunteers have offered to take us out on day trips and teach us a few things." 

Orin took the sly comment with a flat look, his eyebrow lifting when Janna glanced down to make sure he understood that she was jabbing at him. "Thanks so much for informing   
me Janna, how could I have ever figured out such exclusive information without you. What kind of artwork? Like paintings and stuff?" 

Janna shrugged, lifting her hand to skim her fingers along the stone of a building as the group took a turn and veered off the main path and onto one made mostly of loose rocks and dry, grey dirt. "Dunno!" she grinned, "They're art students themselves, said they had been studying for a few years to become good enough to sell wares and travel."

Orin hummed, kicking aside a rock absently as he took in the sparse collection of houses on this side of the settlement. They were smaller than the ones he had been through only that morning, more like little bungalows and each dotted with a small patch of land. As they strolled through, Orin could see Telua milling about, some throwing open their windows and some hanging in doorways or leaning against the sides of houses as they spoke among themselves. The place they were no doubt heading towards cropped up as they rounded the next corner, only two storeys high, but wide enough across that the rest of it was lost behind more houses and other, taller buildings. It was made from the same pale grey stone that lined the pathway, nearly every wall boasting a window that was taller than Orin himself and so wide across; at first glance it seemed as though the place was half made of glass. 

The Telua by the name of Vah turned suddenly, spreading his arms wide with a smile. "This is the Art House," His voice was heavy with the English language, accented but clear as he beckoned the small group of humans forward and pointed towards a set of massive, wooden doors painted a sleek black. "This is where those who adore the arts come to learn. We each have different lessons, with different... Teachers. Some tutors are... Permenant. They live in Teh or nearby settlements. Some are guests, who travel far to teach others and pass on skills."

Vah stood aside as the humans flooded in through the open doors, their gasps and exclamations sounding even at the back of the group, and Orin soon realised why. 

The main room that they had entered was absolutely massive. It stretched as far up high as the building was tall, the ceiling a magnificent stretch of glass that flooded the space with sunlight. The walls were a pristine white, paneled and sectioned with lengths of red drapery that looked as though it would seal off each section when closed. Orin had taken the time once, on Earth, to visit an art gallery. He could honestly say that the room he stood in now was beyond comparison. Artwork lined the walls in paintings and drawings of ink and pastel and mediums he was sure he could not even begin to guess at. Across the clear, silver floor stood even more three-dimensional pieces that drew the humans in like tiny moths to mammoth flames. 

Some were incredible in size, taller than even some of the Telua that were walking about and carved from glass in delicate, spiraling designs that caught the light and cast a rainbow of colours across the white walls. Some were made from metal, stained dark or bright and twisted into petrified figures that looked as though they could very well dance across the clear space ahead of them. Some were small, held high on white pedestals and no less pleasing to the eye as they caught the light and shone like pretty, polished gems beneath it. Others still, Orin noted, were made from the wood of trees; golden yellow and tall and graceful. There was artwork strewn in front of him now the likes of which he doubted he would ever see again. He felt his lips part on a sigh, his eyes darting to watch as Janna took off towards one of the massive glass features with a sharp laugh. 

"This place is magical."

There was a chuckle behind him, light and sweet and Orin blinked up to find Mal'na, the Telua with the silver eyes and dark hair, beside him. "Not... Magic. Hard work..."

The Telua lifted long, slender fingers and Orin grinned to find them flecked with dark ink. "The result of hard work is a bit of magic in itself, sometimes, " he grinned, "Is there something here that you've worked on, then?"

Mal'na flushed, nodding his head once before moving slowly towards a back wall where the room curved slightly and led to several wooden doors. "We learn in... Other rooms." The Telua spoke softly, his tail swishing about him once; before he curled it against one thigh. "We make... messes... In Back rooms. We make... Mistakes. We learn. Good work goes to this... Gallery."

Orin nodded, "I can see why. All of these pieces are amazing. I don't even know what half of these portraits are made from and I think I'm in love with them." 

The Telua let loose a high chirrup, cheeks flushing again as he smiled down at Orin. "Paint... Mostly. Paint and... Soft... wood? Ink and plant... oils? Some are new..." Mal'na turned to face a painting to their right that was a gentle landscape of lush, golden fields and skies hued in scarlet and pink. The three moons hung like some overseeing deity in the centre, casting light and shadow on the plants that seemed to lift off the canvas. 

Before he could get a better glance, Mal'na was pointing at another section filled with different landscapes and portraits of actual Telua that were done in sharper detail. "Some paintings are... Old. They have been... Donated? To the ... Gallery. They have hung... For decades. This is mine."

Orin dragged his gaze away from the portraits, a gasp parting his lips as he turned to face the bold ink drawing that stretched across the wall now beside them. It was an insect, of that much alone he could work out. It almost resembled a bee in shape, its round body devoid of stripes and holding instead a sharply detailed design filled with curves and circles. It was drawn with harsh lines, rough and sure and steady; as though the hand that had brought it to life on the canvas had never known anything other than confidence in the sharp beauty of their work. 

"Mal'na... This is remarkable! You drew this by hand? It's gorgeous!" Orin turned a wide smile on the Telua and found the man flushing a deep violet. He lowered his eyes, his head tilting forward to allow his dark hair to slide from one shoulder and fall against his front. 

"Thank you..."

"Oh," Orin chuckled, "I didn't even introduce myself, did I? Sorry, I'm Orin." 

Silver eyes glanced up, the Telua's smile soft and filled with warmth. "Thank you, Orin." 

The pair were interrupted by a shout form Vah, the grinning Telua calling Mal'na over with a wave of one hand. The dark haired man smiled, looking down at Orin. "Pardon."

The blonde watched him go with a nod, his eyes darting about and catching again on the 'old' paintings on the wall at the end of the curve. How old could they be? Orin thought as he started walking towards them, skirting around another tall wooden sculpture with a look of awe. Years? He almost reached out to touch a glass sculpture that was so large, it barely kissed the ceiling, before pulling his hand back with a roll of his eyes. Decades? The landscape paintings seemed to be mostly of Teh, or, he assumed, other settlements. They were like photographs, so pristine clear was the detail; down to the flash of white petal amongst the golden grass. 

Centuries? Orin shook his head with a smile, taking in the portrait of a Telua with piercing black eyes and silver hair, the man devoid of any top and his chest a mass of straight, angular markings. Stern looking fellow... And the next one too, Orin realised, was just as stern. He made a face at them both, grinning as he moved onto the next portrait and felt the smile leave his ways so quickly, it could have been wiped off. His steps stopped, his breath catching in his throat as he stared up at the portrait of two Telua smiling down at him from a canvas that was nearly the length of his arm-span across. 

They were as tall as each other, the first with a head of auburn curls that trailed down his spine like a current of molten waves. He was pale, his fur almost silver and the entire right side of his neck decorated in a curving mark that sprawled delicately up one cheek to curl against his eye. Vivid green eyes stared down at Orin, just a shade brighter than his own and in a face made only more beautiful by the smile stretched across it. The Telua was turned somewhat from Orin's view, one pale arm resting against the chest of the man beside him in a gesture that could only be... Possessive. 

Orin felt his hand lift to stifle whatever sound was threatening to spill out, his eyes blinking rapidly. The Telua beside the auburn haired man was smiling too, wide enough to show a hint of fang. His torso was decked in only a strap of white fabric, one lean, dark-grey arm wrapped around the waist of the beautiful creature beside him. His bronze curls were a shade darker, a shade richer than the others and fell just as softly against his back and shoulders. From a face that was as familiar to Orin now as his own, golden eyes were bright and wide; and the human did not think he would ever see Auur'na look as... Happy, as he did in this painting. 

"Do you like it?" 

Orin jumped, earning a sharp snap of laughter from the Telua that was Vah before the brown haired man held a hand to his mouth. "Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you!" 

"No," Orin felt his voice come out like a croak and grimaced as he cleared it, blinking dry eyes quickly. "Sorry, that was my fault. I was miles away..."

Brown eyes regarding him with a frown, the Telua's head tilting to one side. "But you are here?"

Orin felt a chuckle leave him despite the rapid beating of his heart, the blonde shook his head. "An expression. It meant I was lost in my own thoughts, I do like the painting, yes... I love it actually. Isn't that Auur'na?"

Vah grinned, tucking his hands behind his back and glancing around as a few more humans sidled closer to look at the older paintings. "Of the Council? Indeed! He was much missed when he went to Earth, but an... excellent choice to be one of the first to travel so far. He was gifted as a Guide." 

Orin glanced up as Janna suddenly appeared beside him, dropping an arm to lean on his shoulder. The blonde woman staring was up at the painting with a small furrow between her brows. She hummed. "Who's he with there, then?"

Subtle, Janna, very subtle. 

"Ah," Vah's smile softened, a sad little chirrup of a sound rumbling in his chest. "That was Kua."

Kua. 

Orin stared up at him, taking in those beautiful, proud features with no small amount of awe. "...Was?"

Vah nodded once. "I know not the whole story, merely a part. Kua was an Explorer, he helped Auur'na and those of the Council to build up the settlement of Teh... Bigger. The two were like... Halves of a whole; where one was, the other was not far behind. They bonded fast and remained a couple pair for far longer than any other Telua was known to do. Kua settled to teach the younglings of our past, our history; and Auur'na became a part of the Council so as to remain near to him here in Teh."

Vah's voice was quiet, in a show of respect for the couple smiling down at him, as he told their story. "A tragedy befell Kua, and he passed quickly. I was told that Auur'na was not... Himself, for some time after that. The parting of such a bond... It does not bear thinking about." 

Janna was standing straight, her own lips parted as she made a small sound of compassion, "What happened to Kua?"

Vah shook his head, his lips lifting in a sad, little smile. "I do not know. The details change each time the story is told and I fear most do not touch upon the truth. It is safest to leave the full story to those who were alive when it happened." 

Orin felt himself swallow around a lump in his throat, his hands clenching in the material of his shorts. Those who were alive when it happened... "Mal'na said these paintings were old..."

Vah smiled again, nodding. "Yes, some are old. The portrait of Kua and Auur'na was painted not long after Teh began to take full form so I believe it is..." He lifted one finger to his lips in thought, his brow furrowed. "One-hundred and twenty-six cycles old? My count may be off by some..."

Orin felt Janna snort beside him, the woman shaking her head in disbelief. He couldn't really blame her, as he stared up at a face that had not aged in, apparently, one-hundred and twenty-odd years. His heart clenched inside his chest like a physical pain. 

What a long time to be alive... Without the person you loved most.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

It was nearing Twilight by the time the group finished at the Art House and made their way back towards the village centre. The lanterns had been laid out early, dim beneath the slowly setting sun and casting a warm, yellow glow across the main pathways. 

Orin was half-lost in his own world, his feet kicking at loose pebbles as he trailed beside Janna. The woman's lemon yellow fleece, that she had stuffed in her satchel, had been battled onto him with the shift in temperature as the night crept closer and Orin was more or less resigned when the sleeves fell passed his fingertips and the hem rubbed against his thighs. It had been over-sized and funky on Janna, it was over-sized and ridiculous on him. 

He rolled the cuffs up with a scowl, throwing an outraged glance down at his own feet when he nearly tripped over a rock he had tried to side-step. It was telling in itself how Janna caught him with one arm without so much as a pause in her conversation. 

"Are you listening to me, Orin?"

"I am."

"Great, so what do you think I should do about my sudden problem then?"

The blonde blinked, stopping to squint up at his friend as though the answer might be written across her forehead. "Eh..."

"You're a pain in the backside, do you know that?" Janna smiled down at him, gripping his shoulders with her two hands and swinging him around to stare into his face. "I was saying for you to not make this into a sudden problem, Orin, okay? I've been watching the gears in your head turn since you saw that painting and had to stop you walking into three different walls. If you're so curious, just ask Auur'na. The guy is a sweetheart, he'll tell you."

Orin shook his head furiously. "I couldn't. This was the absolute love of his life we're talking about here, Janna. I'm not about to bring up something so bloody painful for the man. If it was important, he would have brought it up already." The blonde looked down at his converse, his lips twisting. "If I was important, he would have brought it up already... I really don't think he looks at anyone that way and least of all some little, clumsy... Alien." 

Janna threw her hands up, her eyes rolling so far back in her skull that Orin thought they might get wedged there. "Orin," she moaned, frowning down at him and stabbing a blue polished nail into his chest. "You best get out of this pity party you're throwin' for yourself and damn well ask the guy if he could be interested in you like that! You haven't even spoken to him, how are you gonna make a decision so bloody one-sided?"

She caught his cheeks suddenly, smushing them in her palms as she tilted his face up and snarled down at him. "You are freaking adorable. You are amazing. You are a goddamn saint and I will not have you talkin' shit about yourself! Do you understand me, you stupid little ray of sunshine?"

Orin was laughing despite his wayward thoughts, his lips spreading in a smile as he snatched his face from Janna's clutches and pushed her aside. "Alright! Alright..." He sighed, shaking his head fondly and moving in to squeeze his arms around the young woman with a sigh. "Don't tell Richard, but you're my favourite." 

Janna was stroking his hair, shushing him softly. "I've already told him."

Orin snorted into the woman's chest, the feelings that had held him down in his own confusion and morbid sense of mind floating off to leave him feeling as light as he had done that morning. He was dwelling on memories not even his own, filled with bleak thoughts and speculation. Janna was right, his stupid, unnecessary emotions were tugging at decisions that he had no need nor want to settle right now. Nor could he, with only snippets of information. Vague snippets of information, at that.

"Orin."

Orin felt Janna pull him closer for a split second, the woman's smile pressed to his ear as she whispered, "Speak of the devil..."

Orin pushed away from her, struggling with the rolled down sleeves of the fleece as he turned to face the reason for his uncertain thoughts. 

Auur'na was walking towards them, his fangs flashing in a smile and one hand raised in greeting. Orin felt his own 'hello' catch in his throat as he took him in. The Telua's pants were a blood red, fashioned tight around his midriff and thighs and leaving his calves bare. His torso was shirt-less, the only decoration his bold, black arm markings and a bright, slender golden chain that hung low to his chest, a ruby-red stone as its pendant. Orin felt his heart swoop to his stomach. 

Christ, this creature was going to kill him. 

"Auur'na," Orin managed, his smile bright, "Sorry I got dragged away from you in the Medical Centre earlier, Ana's got some amount of strength for a woman so skinny."

Golden eyes glinted beneath the light of the moons and setting sun, rich and dark. "It gave me time to speak with Ifrin, he thinks you are a delight."

Orin watched Auur'na nod to Janna, the woman grinning up at him with all the mischievousness of an imp. The shorter man snorted. "A delight, am I?"

Janna cooed, ruffling his hair and sliding a finger around the band that usually held it, pulling it free in one smooth motion. "Course you are, Orin. You don't mind if I borrow this hair-tie do you? Thanks! I'll be off to fetch dinner then, why don't you tell Auur'na about all the wonderful paintings we saw in the Art House? Talk later, bye!"

Orin scowled after her, his hands lifting to pull his hair to one side and scowling when it fell over his shoulder and down his front. 

Damn, horses's mane.

"We ate just an hour ago, though!" He yelled at her, tsking beneath his breath when she ignored him and turning to Auur'na with a shrug. 

The Telua had been reaching out, his hand stilling for the briefest moment as Orin turned back to him; before he smiled and ran a dark grey hand through the blonde hair. Fingers moved softly against Orin's skull, before trailing down to sweep the waves out until they fell down his back. Auur'na purred, the sound low and gentle. "It is a pity you do not like to wear it down often... The colour is like nothing else I have ever seen."

Orin was frozen beneath those golden eyes, fingers clutched on the hem of Janna's fleece. "It's ah... It's called Strawberry Blonde. My Dad had it too... The colour, I mean, not like, just hair."

Auur'na grinned when Orin snorted to himself, his mind conjuring up an image of his father bald as a seal. He shook the weird thought from his head with a smile. The Telua tilted his head gently, before flashing his fangs in a sharp smile and holding a hand out for Orin to take. 

"May I show you something?"

###

Auur'na had taken them up a tree. 

Not just any of the slightly large trees that clustered around the fields and along the edges of houses in Teh. Auur'na had taken him to the very edges of the settlement land, where the lanterns stopped and the only light came from the silver moons and the very edges of a lilac-tinted sky on the cusp of Twilight. 

The Telua had not stopped as they neared the colossal trees that bordered the village like sleeping giants, gripped his arms and swung Orin onto his back with instructions to 'hold tight!' and he was off. Auur'na's front nails, though gently rounded and ordinary as they appeared, sank into the bark with ease, his arched, taloned feet hoisting the pair of them up the length of the golden tree trunk in minutes where it would have taken a well-equipped human hours. 

Orin clung for dear life, a nervous yelp leaving him when he glanced down and saw the way the tree leaned into the cavernous valley below, nothing but cloud and sky and eventual rock to break a fall. The air was colder the higher they climbed, Orin's arms wrapped tight around Auur'na's shoulders and his thighs clutched to a slim waist. Though he felt like some demented koala, there was a thrill of something incredible that shot through him as the branches and leaves grew dense. The blonde tipped his head back, taking in gulps of oxygen-saturated air as the white flowers dotted everywhere he looked. He giggled as he clutched tighter, drawing a huff of laughter from Auur'na as the man climbed higher still, his tail wrapping like a separate limb around one of Orin's shins. 

They broke the treeline suddenly, with a sigh from Auur'na as he stopped, his legs sinking into a cross-legged pose. Orin was fully focused on the flowers that had tripled, quadrupled, quintupled in size the higher up they reached; he startled as hands gripped him suddenly, as Auur'na brought him around to the Telua's front and sat him slowly on his crossed legs. 

Had he a moment to think on it, Orin may have been overjoyed at the sudden position. As it was, his entire mind settled on only one thing. 

The view.

Orin felt his lips part, his eyes wide as he leaned forward and Auur'na's arms gripped him, fast and steady. The world spread out before him was like something from some distant dream, too surreal, too unusual to his eye for him to have ever conceived of it in real time. The light from the settlement spilled between the tree trunks below, like a shimmering waterfall that tapered over the bridges that held it aloft, stretching to the valley where the ship had set down. The moons overhead lit everything in shades of silver and white, dousing the valleys, the hills, the trees and leaves around them, before plunging into a darkness so black it was as though some massive deity had spilled ink across the bottom of the world. 

Orin felt breathless, alive and incredibly small as he brought his gaze up to stare at the stars that littered the black sky, millions and millions and millions; they were splashed across the darkness like a deftly, flicked paintbrush. A billion places to explore... To wander... To get lost in over and over and over... 

"I used to come up here often." Auur'na's voice was hushed, as though even his sweet tones might break the magic of the view, the breathtaking serenity of the moment. Orin twisted to glance up at him, watching as he tipped his face up to the stars and closed his golden eyes. "I used to come here often, with Kua."

Orin felt something sharp lance through his heart and, with a sudden start, realised that it was not jealousy, as he had thought it to be in the Art House. Auur'na's face, though relaxed beneath the moonlight, was so... Incredibly... Sad. It was the sharp, familiar pain of loss. The human felt his mouth twist, his hand reaching out to rest against Auur'na's arm softly. "You don't have to... Your memories are your own." 

Golden eyes glanced down at him, pained; dark and hurting despite the years between himself and the memory. The Telua smiled still, something low and thrumming, like a purr but broken somehow, sounding in his chest. "Though they are my own, I have lived long enough to learn that sharing them will make them no less mine. I wish to share with you, Orin. Though time has passed, some pain feels fresh at times. The memories I hold are dear, they are all that I have... But memories can be..."

"Loud." Orin supplied, his lips tilting in a soft smile, "memories can be loud."

Auur'na blinked down at him, the Telua's face filling with something warm and fond. "Yes." He smiled, before sighing and leaning back against the golden bark behind him. 

"Kua and I were young, when we met. We bonded fast, without ceremony or need for approval. We loved one another and that was enough." The Telua traced patterns on the blonde's arm he held in his grasp as he spoke, Orin staring at his fingers as they marked invisible spirals on the limb. He felt those soft touches all the way to his toes. 

"We used to climb the trees when we should have been working. We scaled above the cloud-line every night we could, to look up at the stars. There were promises, between the laughter and the tears that came fast with young love. Promises of sailing the starlight together, of discovering worlds, of starting a family..."

There was a heartbroken sound, something trapped between the sad, delicate chirrup of a frantic bird and a desperate intake of breath. Orin whipped his eyes up in time to find Auur'na tilting his head back to the skies. His brow was furrowed, his eyes incredibly dark. "Kua was a season away from birthing our first son when he fell from the edge."

Orin's hand flew to his mouth, his own eyes wide and his heart a frantic beat against his rib-cage. His breathing stilled as Auur'na tipped them forward incredibly gently, to peer into the inky blackness below that Orin now watched with something dark twisting his stomach. Fear. Absolute terror at the thought of plunging into that abyss filled him and he felt his heart break for the beautiful Telua from the painting, with the wide, carefree smile and bright eyes. 

He had fallen. 

Into nothingness... 

Orin felt a sob tear through his hand despite his efforts, his limbs shaking as Auur'na suddenly pulled them back, the Telua's arms locked tight around his waist. "Auur'na..." he whispered.

"He had been playing with the other children by the treeline. The trees had been young, small and spaced enough apart to give them room to grow large... One single step too far and he had been gone. I watched him fall, and though I ran; I could not catch him." 

Orin was trembling, but he could do little to stop it. His hand was clamped on his mouth, though whimpers escaped nonetheless and his eyes stared through the blur of tears. Auur'na's pain was so sharp, so coarse still in his voice and in his eyes. How could it not be? His Mate and his son, taken from him in a split second. He felt a gasping sound wrack his frame, followed by a deep-throated purr of comfort from Auur'na. 

"Orin," The Telua, when Orin managed to blink the tears from his eyes, was smiling. Soft and sad and heartbreaking, Orin felt another sob leave him, and Auur'na pulled him in tighter, the man's tail a comfort against the blonde's shaking leg. 

"Sweet, little Orin..." Auur'na hushed against him, rubbing his chin against the blonde's head, "I tell you this not to upset you. Kua's death was a sad one, a tragic, terrible thing."  
A hand lifted to wipe away the tears that were falling still on Orin's cheeks, warm and soft. Green eyes wet and miserable glanced up into gold. "H-how can you even b-bare it?" There was a tremor to his voice he had not heard since the day his mother had passed. "I'm s-so sorry, Auur'na..."

The Telua was purring still, a deep vibration within his core that fed into Orin's body like heat, taking the tremor from his limbs. "Time." 

Golden eyes looked up at the sky and sighed. "I have had time, to think, to grieve, to forgive the circumstance... And to forgive myself. Kua adored life. He took pleasure in simple things and reveled in the difficult. He cast his emotions out for all to see and made peace with whatever the future held for him... Long before that day. Had he seen the way I closed myself off from everybody and everything else in the years after his demise; he would have been most... Unimpressed."

Orin tilted his head back, taking in the smile that played about Auur'na's lips. "He sounds... Strong."

Auur'na looked down at him, his lips spreading in a wide smile that had Orin all but dazzled as the Telua's snow white teeth caught the light of the moon. "He was. Kua was strong in many ways, and so I chose to be strong in ways that would mean most to him. Though he passed before his time, he no less shaped the man I am and the actions that I sometimes take."

Orin's lips tilted in a smile, small but genuine. "Even though he passed... He's still a big part of you, of your world." 

Auur'na was watching him still, his hands lifting to cup Orin's cheeks and smooth away the tear tracks on his cheeks. "He was a big part of my world, and his memory will always be with me. The memories we shared will forever shape me," Orin froze as Auur'na leaned closer, golden eyes peering down at him filled with something soft and sweet. 

"But, that does not mean that I do not see you, Orin." The Telua breathed the words, a whisper on the still night air that sent a thrill racing down Orin's spine so fast, he shuddered. 

Auur'na grinned. "I would be honored, my Orin, to make more memories... With you."


	17. Chapter Seventeen

"Orin and Auur'na sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-Ack-!"

Janna collided with Richard with the force of the kick Orin had just aimed at her side, the woman slapping out a hand to brace herself on the silver bench seat as she cackled. 

Richard held his bowl of fruit and oat-like-porridge-concoction above his head, glaring at the both of them as he moved around the table and sat on the opposite bench. "Janna, stop being a pest."

If anything, the woman only laughed harder, straightening back onto her backside and sliding closer to where Orin was straddling the bench, one foot tucking beneath his body as he glared at her. "We didn't kiss."

Janna grinned, digging her spoon into the melon-ish blue fruit in front of her with an unnecessary amount of force. "Oh?" She hummed, leaning down into Orin's space and lifting a brow, "And who's fault is that? Yours, it's your fault, Orin. You know what you want, you need to reach out and grab it with both hands!" 

She snatched the bread from between his fingers, casting a dry look down at the tiny flakes of crust that he had been ripping off and littering the table with. "Stop makin' a mess, we take turns cleanin' this room." 

Orin sighed dramatically, tipping his head back to look up at the white ceiling of the dining hall. It was one of three in the hotel, a smaller one. There were only two other groups eating and chatting aside from the trio and the blonde frowned at them as he spoke in a hush. "We were just talking! Nothing happened, you nosy git." The blonde made to snatch his bread back, growling when Janna held it up high and looked down at him with her cheeks full of half of it. He rolled his eyes. "If you're so interested in sortin' out my bloody love life, why don't you try and give Richard's a go!"

The taller man nearly choked on his spoon, coughing sharply and turning a shade darker as he lifted his hands to shake in the negative. "What? Me? No! I mean, no, I don't have a love life!" 

"Exactly," Orin gave up on the bread, slumping onto his back to lay down, his blonde ponytail pooling against the bench beneath his head. "Richard is a fine lookin' man with a lot of love to give. Go fetch him someone special, Janna, and leave me to progress at my own pace."

"You mean backwards?" The woman snorted, glancing down at him, "Is that my vest?" 

Orin tugged at the hem of the black string-top, shrugging one bare shoulder. "My clothes are too warm, your door was open."

Janna pointed a thumb at him, her scowl turning towards Richard as though it had been his decision to raid her wardrobe. "Do you see this? You see what I'm puttin' up with, and the guy doesn't even have the decency to let me intrude on his personal life?" 

"To be fair, Janna, it is only a top. Orin can be allowed to progress in any relationship that he may want at a speed that suits all parties involved." 

Orin listened to them bicker with a smile stretching across his face, a breath leaving him, slow and steady. Their friendly bantering was slowly becoming the background track to Orin's new life and the blonde found that he absolutely loved it. He had never been so close to others before that he had actively sought someone out. Friendship was a thing he was familiar with, but almost muted. An acquaintance with a birthday party here, a colleague looking for a night out of drinking there... In the month the trio had spent together aboard the ship and the few days they had been living life to the fullest on Avan; Orin had come to view Janna and Richard as entirely irreplaceable. He adored them, was falling in love with their faults and flaws and strengths of character. Friendship was something he was fast becoming dependent on. 

Orin yelped as a face suddenly appeared above his own, ruby red eyes filled with humour and copper hair piled high in a ponytail. "Ruuri!"

The blonde sat up, grinning as he swung on the bench to face the smiling Telua. "Good morning, Orin... Janna... Richard." Ruuri nodded his head at the other two humans who waved at him, before he turned back to Orin with a grin. 

"If you are all... Free, Orin, I would be... thrilled to show you the dance we will... Perform at the Welcoming?"

Orin felt his face fall, Janna lifting her hands to 'whoop' beside him and Richard nodding his head with a laugh.

How the hell had he managed to forgot about that?

###

They were in a window-free, empty room inside the hotel, the lights bright and clear from the ceiling above and lighting the silver floor so that it gleamed. One wall was filled entirely with a mirror, reflecting back Orin's pale face as he braced his hands on his hips. 

Why had he agreed to this, again?

D'fi was in one corner with Richard, the human bracing his hands against the back of something large and wooden as the Telua folded it out with a grunt. It snapped into place, and Richard stepped back to examine it with no small amount of fascination. Tall and bare, the structure looked almost like a table, with circular divots carved in the wood and filled with small, silver discs. Janna reached out from beside the Telua to poke one deftly, smiling when a single note rang through the room. The note was like the bell of a piano key, soft and sweet, but with a drawn out vibration to it that trembled off with a whisper.

Orin watched D'fi drag a stool from a nearby cabinet, settling in front of the... instrument with a grin. His fingers flew once across the line of silver discs, drawing a sudden range of notes from them that seemed to resonate around the walls around them, loud and clear. "It is called a... Disc-set, in English, if I am not mistaken? Similar to..."

"A keyboard!" Janna looked delighted, grinning when D'fi nodded at her and lifted his fingers to play a simple, short range of notes that sounded almost like the start of a ballad. The notes fell against Orin's skin like they were a physical thing, crystal clear in his ears and incredibly beautiful.

"Yes," D'fi was smiling, face soft and Orin heard Ruuri coo gently beside him. "We use them during Welcomings, Festivals, Gatherings. When we have a reason to celebrate, the disc-set will usually make an appearance. During the Welcoming, there will also be those who play the... Strummer and... BaseBowl. That is an instrument that is similar to the human drum." 

Ruuri hummed as D'fi tapped another gentle lull on the keys, his smile warm. "Some songs are... Recorded and others have learned to... Warp the melody into something... Incredible. When we do not play by hand, we play by... Device." 

"Like the recordings of Earth music we sent in the beginning?" Richard raised a brow, "I had wondered how it was the recordings of your voices came back to Earth. I've yet to see anything resembling a radio."

D'fi finished the melody, tapping one hand along the edge of the disc-set until something clicked beneath his fingers and he released a tiny box shaped in silver. He flicked it one way, pressing a nail beneath a divot and suddenly the tune he had been playing sounded throughout the room, clear and strong. 

"Incredible..." Orin whispered. 

D'fi smiled at him, shutting the thing off with another flick of his nail and slotting it back into place inside the instrument. "Most instruments have them, they record the sound a thing makes but not the voices around it. Though there are voice recorders too, they are slightly larger and slot into devices kept in the main Council room. We used those to transfer signals from our own recorders to the tiny, storage keys that were went to us by you... After we transferred your music and languages to our Sound Library. I will happily show you, at another time."

Richard was nodding his head so fast, Orin thought it might snap off. Janna herself looked impressed, lifting her brows and sliding a hand across the front of the disc-set like the thing was something splendid and magnificent. 

"But, now," Orin glanced over at Ruuri, to find the redhead grinning down at him, "Dancing."

He sighed, toeing off his shoes and socks when Ruuri directed him to do so, and glaring when Janna and Richard settled cross-legged on the floor beside D'fi. "How come ye're not dancing?"

Janna barked a laugh, sidling closer and staring up at Orin with wide eyes. "And miss a chance to watch you land on your backside, not a hope. Besides, I've got two left feet, you're the one who went and said you could dance... In front of Auur'na." 

"That is true, Orin," Richard braced his back against the pillar behind him, stretching one leg out and bending the other to plant his elbow on his knee. "You did say that you would dance at the Welcoming, Janna and I made no such promise."

The blonde grumbled, yelping when Ruuri reached out to lift his shirt, the Telua's fingers pulling the strings of his shorts taut to stop them from slipping down his hips. "When is the Welcoming anyway, is it soon? If I have to learn a whole new dance, it's not gonna happen if this party thing is soon!"

D'fi was fiddling with something at the head of the instrument, his face drawn in concentration. "We are waiting on the majority of the Council to arrive, and others from different settlements who may wish to take part. As soon as the we have a Council majority, the Welcoming can begin. Such events, once begun, can last for days, there will be ample time to practice."

Ruuri pulled Orin's hair free of its loose ponytail, only to run his fingers through the heavy locks and pull it upward, taming it into a high tail at the top of his head. The curls tipped his shoulders gently as Orin swung to look at himself in the mirror. That hairstyle was... New...

"You have a natural... sway to your hips... when you walk, Orin. This dance will become... Second nature, to you." Ruuri's voice was soft, the Telua leaning in to grip his waist and smile. "It is... Instinctual. It is a dance to... Attract, to... Entice..." 

Orin flushed at the words, glancing up into ruby eyes with a frown. "I'm not exactly good at that type of thing, Ruuri..." 

Ruuri purred, slow and deep as he leaned in to whisper, "You are enticing... even when you do not try... Watch."

Orin took a few steps back, his cheeks aflame as Ruuri strode to the centre of the room. The Telua was decked in tight-fitting, hip-hugging trousers much like the red ones Auur'na had been in only recently. These, though, were a gentle gold that shimmered beneath the lights, and the man's torso was bare except for a beautiful, intricate mark that began at his stomach and teased down along edges of his hips in a dark grey sprawl of spirals and curves. When D'fi began to play, Orin felt the sparse, blonde hairs on his arms stand on end. 

Whatever fiddling the Telua had done to the instrument had dropped the tone by several degrees, meaning the notes were dark and low, melting into one another in a beat that pooled heat inside him. Sensual, soft, wickedly playful, D'fi's fingers coaxed the song from the disc-set until the room was filled with it, as though they were speakers built in to the very walls. The Telua's form was incredible to watch as his hands moved, quick and delicate, his lips lifting in the barest of smirks as he glanced up from the keys he seemed to know by heart and locked eyes with Ruuri. 

Ruuri... 

Orin felt his lips part, his eyes widening to take in the other Telua. 

The redhead danced as fluidly as the notes surrounding him, his slender waist moving with slow, deliberate, twists that curved his round hips. His hands and arms he used with deliberate slowness, sliding once against his body before lifting into the air to trace a pattern that followed the gentle, fluid rhythm that his feet had began to set against the floor. Orin watched his eyes close, his arms lifting high as his hips curved again in that delicate spiral, before snapping out and his body body bent beautifully with the sudden dip in the rhythm. 

It was, quite possibly, the most erotic thing Orin had ever seen in his life... 

He would not have considered himself shy, nor a prude; he would have proudly stood by the fact that he had kissed and been kissed against public buildings, that he had moaned in the backseat of his boyfriend's car in a near empty car-park, a hand between his legs before even the streetlights had a chance to come on. He had danced in clubs and laughed as he felt hands on his hips and a mouth on his neck. All of that 'expeience' that he had been so proud of, he realised, was nothing compared to watching a Telua dance. 

The moves were erotic in their swing, in the bare touches of Ruuri's own hands against his waist, his hips, his thighs... It was provocative and brought a fiery blush to his cheeks at just having to watch. The moves were primal, incredibly suggestive and Orin had never been so swiftly reminded that, for all his bravado and false confidence... He was so, incredibly, lacking in bedroom experience. How in the fuck was he supposed to move like that?

"Sweet, Jesus..." 

The words brought a howl of laughter from Janna, Ruuri slowing in his dance to smile at her as she clapped and urged him on, her eyes alight. "My Gods, yes! That is how you dance! Keep going, please, for the love of all that is sacred, keep going!"

Richard seemed as affected as Orin, the man's mouth open and his cheeks dark as Janna elbowed him in the ribs and drew a startled yelp from him. D'fi grinned down at them, the Telua's dark eyes lidded as he purred something dark and low; the unknown words drawing a lilac-tinted hue to Ruuri's cheeks.

The redhead scoffed, throwing his Mate a raised brow, before turning towards Orin and lifting his hands out. "Come here, little dancer."

He could not do this. No way. Not a hope. He was doomed.

Orin grimaced as he moved forward, squeaking when Ruuri pulled him against his body. The redhead stilled even as the music continued beneath D'fi's fingers. He turned Orin until the blonde was facing the mirror, Ruuri's body pressed against his back with not an inch between them. With the Telua being just a fraction smaller than Auur'na below the seven foot mark, Orin realised that his high ponytail barely reached the redhead's chest, Ruuri's hands seeming big despite their slender elegance as they settled on the blonde's round hips. Ruby red eyes caught with his in the mirror as Ruuri leaned down to whisper in his ear. 

"You want him to... See you." The redhead slid his hands up Orin's waist and drew a tremble from the blonde. "You want him to see... Only you." Fingers tipped against the underside of his arms, lifting them up in a slow, gentle swing. "You want him to... Touch you..."

Orin's breath stuttered as Ruuri's hands slid back down his body, one trailing across the front of his stomach where the string top he wore had ridden up. His body was tense beneath those gentle fingers, the sensations thrumming through his blood familiar and altogether foreign. He took in a shaky breath. 

"I don't know if I can do this..." He closed his eyes, and jolted when Ruuri purred and dragged his hips into a sudden curve, pulling his body into the lull of the music. His arms followed, skimming against the Telua's own as they pivoted enough for Orin to feel the familiar thrill of dancing with another run through him. His steps were stiff, his cheeks scalding as Ruuri moved them both, slow and steady. Orin felt a laugh break from him as he curved a hip and stretched his arms above his head before those gentle fingers could guide it, Ruuri grinning down at him. 

"No doubts," the redhead pulled him in again, as the song started anew, "This is a dance to show to all that you are... Powerful. You are..." 

A word, dark and said with a smile in Teluan that purred against his ear. Ruuri bared his teeth in a smile, growling low in his chest.

"Show Auur'na that you are more than... Capable."


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Orin had his eyes half-closed and his back to one of the spindly silver trees that lay scattered across the field. There was a breeze that had not been there the day before, light and full of the fragrance of flowers and warm stone. 

He tilted his head up to meet it, lips lifting in a smile and fingers plucking at the strings of the Strummer in his lap. Richard and Janna had abandoned him not long after the semi-successful dance lesson; Richard in search of Ana and Kou in the hopes that he might get a glance on whatever experiments the doctor was running. Janna, in following D'fi as the Telua was on his way, with the easily folded disc-set, to teach a lesson across the village. Orin had waved them off, humming to himself as he strolled into Richard's unlocked room to whip the man's Strummer from where it was leaned against the far wall.

The field he had found a spot for himself in was the one beside the Market place, though far enough away that he was sure the noise of the instrument would not intrude on the Telua trying to work and set up. D'fi's clothing tent was manned by another Telua and Ruuri, though the redhead was more intent on watching the children that ran about the place. 

There were six children in Teh, he had come to know. He had met two in Brac'n and the young boy's infant brother, Lull'ri. The other four, he had watched race about under legs, giggling and screaming as Brac'n chased behind them, the boy spreading his arms wide and growling with a mouth stretched wide in a smile. 

Orin watched them from beneath lidded eyes, snorting quietly when Brac'n grabbed another around the waist and flung them both to the grass. The other child was one closer to Brac'n's age, if Orin were to guess, though much smaller. He hauled himself up with a scowl, pointing a finger and snapping his little fangs when Brac'n laughed at him. His pale brown hair was tucked into a messy braid, dark grey skin the first Orin had seen on a Telua aside from Auur'na. 

Another boy sidled up behind the pair as they were distracted and Orin stifled his laughter as the kid leapt suddenly with a roar and landed on Brac'n's back, sprawling the pair of them across the yellow grass with a yowl from the taller boy. This child was younger, small hands lifting in a crow of triumph and his black hair wild with curls about his little face. Brac'n turned with a furious, little snarl, baring his larger fangs in a ferocious growl that was quickly cut off by a slightly taller child tugging on the collar of his shirt and tsking down at him. His silver eyes narrowed when Brac'n turned a glare on him, cowing the dark haired youth into pouting like a bold child. 

Orin could do little to still the cut-off giggle that left him at the sight. 

Black eyes snapped to him, Brac'n's face lighting up as he struggled to his feet, latching out a hand to grab two of the nearest kids and all but pulling them to where Orin was lounged across the grass. The blonde sighed, opening his eyes fully when they plonked down around him. Five pairs of eyes stared up at him, wide and curious and Orin felt his lips tilt in a smile. 

"Hi."

"Orin!" Brac'n cooed, sidling closer and patting the blonde's knee. "Play!" 

Play? Orin blinked, watching as those five eyes looked at him expectantly, Brac'n scooting closer still to bump their knees together and pulling the child with the silver eyes against him with a grin. Did they want him to play the game they were playing? Small as they were, two of the group nearly matched him in height, and Orin thought he might do without being thrown around the place by a group of Teluan children. "Play what?"

Brac'n laughed, as though Orin had said something hilarious and the blonde felt his smile stretch. The kid was adorable. 

"A song!" 

"Ahh.." Orin glanced down at the Strummer in his lap, his cheeks flushing. Of course they meant a song. He looked up at Brac'n, brow furrowing. "What song, though? I don't know any Teluan music, Brac'n, sorry." 

The silver eyed child leaned forward, his dark brown hair sleek and straight and falling against his front as he stared up at Orin. There was a weight to the child's gaze for a brief moment as though he was considering, before his lips tilted in a soft smile that rounded his young cheeks. "Human... Song?"

A Human song... Orin hummed, tilting his head back to take in the pale blue sky. They wanted a human song, but the majority of those he knew how to play were old-fashioned and slow; something a child would get bored of, he was sure. He plucked his fingers across the strings idly, sorting through his memory as he glanced back down. The Telua at the stalls were working still, unbothered and laughing among themselves and Orin caught sight of bronze hair beside a stall filled with books and writing instruments, Auur'na raising a hand to point something out to a group of humans that were nodding and jotting down notes.

Orin smiled, and glanced down at the kids shuffling about around him. His fingers plucked a gentle chord, slow and steady. "I don't suppose you'll mind something a little sappy, will you? It was one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite movies, even if it is a little old."

Brac'n tilted his head as though trying to make sense of the words, but Orin shook his own with a smile, strumming the opening a little louder and leaning forward over the instrument. He breathed out with a sigh, his lips parting on the start of the song. 

"There's a calm surrender, to the rush of day, when the heat of a rolling wave can be turned away..."

His voice was soft, sweet, as his mother used to say. It wasn't a powerful voice, as hers had been, by any stretch; but it was clear and lovely, with a twist to the end of notes that he was sure he had picked up from listening to one too many old, Irish singers. He smiled as he sang, sinking into the familiar melody. "An enchanted moment and it sees me through. It's enough for this restless warrior, just to be with you..."

He took a breath, smile widening as he took in Brac'n's wide, dark eyes and the hush that had fallen over the kids. 

"Can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are... It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer, that we've got this far..." The chorus was as familiar to him as breathing, so many years he had spent as a kid watching the movie and belting out the tune with his Mam laughing in the background. His smile stayed wide, as he took in a breath to sing it out, leaning forward to wrinkle his nose in a quiet laugh at Brac'n's soft croon. 

His fingers slotted with ease against the strings, quick and deft, his voice lilting low to the next verse as he closed his eyes and fell into the music. There was something freeing about singing, his mother had often said. Singing a song was easier than saying how you felt sometimes, easier than apologizing for a word said in anger, easier than asking for something. Singing was like freeing yourself from whatever silly constraints you had put on who you should be. It let you be entirely open. 

As Orin sang the soft, sweet song, he couldn't help but agree with her. Singing, even if you couldn't sing, even if your voice was not the best, was a thing every single person should be able to do. He glanced back at the children staring up at him as he lulled the last few notes, smiling at each of them and finishing the song with a chuckle. Brac'n let loose a thrill as his fingers played the last few chords, the sound high and delighted and echoed by the boys on either side of him. 

Orin laughed, lifting his gaze and smiling wide when he found himself suddenly pinned beneath a dark, golden stare. There was someone trying to speak with Auur'na, a Telua trying to grab his attention, but the shorter man stood frozen. 

Orin tilted his head down, his cheeks flushing dark as he met Brac'n's suddenly intense gaze, the child lifting a hand to place it down stubbornly on Orin's knee. 

"Another."

###

He had gathered a crowd by the end of his second song, Orin was mortified to see. 

The humans he could have easily ignored, they were familiar and they had in them the same innate embarrassment as any human who found themselves suddenly at the focal point of attention. They cheered him on and chatted quietly, taking the sting of observation from the situation. 

The Telua... They were an altogether different audience. 

Ruuri had settled behind the children, ruby eyes wide as he leaned forward on his crossed legs to stare at Orin, his lips fixed in a smile. There were others around him, their gazes unnerving and fully on him as he plucked the final few notes for the second song, his cheeks aflame. 

Not to mention the main source of his sudden mortification. 

Auur'na stayed by the back of the group, standing still beside a grinning Ifrin. The shorter Telua's arms were crossed, his face impassive in its expression as he stared dark, golden eyes down at Orin with an intensity the blonde could feel even when he squeezed his own eyes shut. 

He changed his mind. He didn't need Auur'na to look at him. Nope, he would creep from afar, thanks. 

He watched Ifrin tilt one hip to the side, his hand braced on it as he leaned in to say something to the Telua beside him that had Auur'na's eyes growing darker still. 

He wasn't mad, was he? Had Orin done something wrong...? None of the others seemed to mind him playing... Orin grinned something of a tense smile down at Brac'n as the boy yowled a sound, high and sharp, that the other children mimicked like small, yapping puppies. "Again! Again, again, again!"

What the hell had he started?

He growled a playful sound down at Brac'n, lifting his hands from the Strummer to tickle the boy's sides in a move that had the kid grinning and shrieking and falling against the other children. 

"You would have me sing for you for the rest of my life, you little monster!" 

There was a sudden growl, dark and threatening, that tore through the warm air around them; it sent a single thrill of terror down Orin's spine as he whipped his head up to stare at the Telua that was prowling towards the field. 

Orin felt his mouth fall open.

The Telua was massive, easily close to, if not over, the eight foot mark. He was wide across the shoulders, his chest bare and decked in solid black markings. His dark hair was held in one braid down his spine, and his dark silver eyes met Orin's and drew a gasp of fright from the human. He was big, big and terrifying and angry in a way Orin had never seen a Telua look before; but more so than that, he was familiar. Memories, quick and vibrant, flashed across Orin's mind of a television screen filled with those silver eyes, a sharp smile filled with fangs. 

He had come form the first ship. The first landing. The first greeting broadcast to the world.

He was the first Telua that had ever stepped foot on Earth. 

As quickly as the man started towards them, his towering frame was intercepted by Auur'na. Though shorter, Auur'na halted the dark haired stranger with a snarl that trembled through Orin's very core, his body flattening to the grass as if on instinct. 

He huffed a frightened breath as the Telua around him stood slowly, grouping the scattered humans together and standing in front of them like a shield. Some were casting wary, uncertain looks at the newcomer, their tails slashing across the air behind them. Agitated. Tense. Orin startled, a low mewl of fright leaving him when a hand touched his spine. He darted a look up to find Ruuri scowling, his ruby eyes dark with anger as the children glanced up at him with confusion clear on their faces. 

The redhead snapped something in Teluan, sharp and loud over the tense growl that vibrated still through the air. Ifrin turned a look on him, his mouth a grim line; before lifting a hand and slapping the strange Telua straight across the back of the bead. 

Orin bit back a squeak of fright as the giant turned a growl on Ifrin, only for the white-haired Telua to level a glare back at him, his lip pulling back in a sharp 'tsk' to reveal an alarming amount of fang. "Lud'r... You are embarrassing yourself."

The dark haired Telua straightened, his silver eyes wide, before glancing around at the commotion he had caused and blinking slowly. "The child is not in danger?"

Auur'na snapped his teeth, his golden eyes flashing as he gripped the taller Telua by the braid and yanked him down to his level. "Do you think... If a child was in danger... That I would be standing here... Allowing it to happen?"

His voice was deep, the growling Teluan accent just beneath those sultry tones. Silver eyes became contrite, the taller man letting loose a soft coo of a sound. Auur'na did not give him an inch, his own large fangs bared as he tugged on the hair harshly. He pointed to Orin with one hand, and the blonde shrank beneath the silver gaze that followed it. "Does. He. Look. Dangerous?"

Orin watched as the taller Telua suddenly sank to his knees, his voice keening as he bowed his head to rest it on Auur'na's chest. "Forgive me... The child's sound of distress was sharp and I did not stop to think it may be in play. I reacted harshly."

Auur'na grumbled something low with gritted teeth, his jaw clenching as he sighed and released the braid in his grasp. "Orin, come here."

No bloody thank you. 

The blonde was still cemented to the grass, his eyes wide and his heart skittering somewhere in his throat as the Telua seemed to settle back down to normal around them. Ruuri rubbed his back with a soft noise, picking up the Strummer that Orin had all but tossed aside in his panic. 

Auur'na frowned and glanced across at him, the man's golden eyes becoming soft and oddly... Amused when they found him. He purred, a soft, low sound, familiar and gentle. "Come on, little one, no harm will come to you. I promise."

He rose on legs he was not entirely sure would hold him up, shaky as a colt's beneath him as he tried to straighten. His arms he crossed over his chest to still the tremble that wavered across his hands. With as much reluctance as he could possibly portray, Orin marched across the yellow grass and stood beside Auur'na, his eyes stubbornly not moving from the golden gaze that was watching him. 

"Orin..." The soft voice did everything for his nerves, and Orin felt himself calm despite the erratic beat of his heart. He glanced across at the man kneeling before Auur'na, horrified to find those silver eyes above his own still. Definitely taller than eight foot. 

What was this fucker eating? 

"This is Lud'r," Auur'na patted the beast of a Telua on the head as though he were some massive pet, smiling down at Orin. "Lud'r, had he any manners, would have introduced himself as one of the First. He is of the Council, a Guide to neighbouring settlements, and a fine example of any Prime Telua; though he is young and brash and emotional. Is that not so, Lud'r?"

Lud'r offered the golden-eyed Telua a slanted look, before catching Orin's eye and cooing a soft, humming purr. "Forgive me, little one. I did not mean to frighten you. I acted rashly, with little thought. You need not fear me."

Orin nodded once, licking his lips and standing back a step when Lud'r rose to his feet suddenly. He towered easily over the blonde's height, his broad shoulders rolling back as he stretched. The blonde felt his eyes widen, his legs moving as though to bolt; before an arm wrapped around his waist suddenly and Orin found himself pulled against Auur'na's front. 

"Well," Lud'r bellowed suddenly, lips splitting in a grin and his voice fraying the nerves of the humans still brave enough to be hanging around, "I'm famished! Come on, humans, show me to the dining hall and I will introduce the rest of my group!"

Orin glanced across to see that there were, indeed, other Telua that he did not recognise standing some ways away; their brows raised and their arms crossed as they watched their Guide smile down like some demented demon at the wide-eyed humans. He sank back against the warmth behind him as they moved off, the tension leaving him like a snapped string and his legs bowing. He would have fallen, he was sure, had Auur'na not chuckled and pulled him closer, bronze curls tickling his face as the Telua leaned down to brace his chin against Orin's blonde hair. 

"My poor, little Orin..." Auur'na's voice was amused, but soft. Gentle. "How dare that brute frighten you..."

There was a hum, a dark little purr as Auur'na tilted his face to breath against the shell of Orin's ear. The blonde stilled, fingers clutching on the arm around his waist in a spasm he could not control. 

The Telua growled. 

"But how beautifully you can bend your little body to the ground..."

Lud'r was right, Orin realised as Auur'na withdrew, those golden eyes dark as the Telua smirked down at him and crooked a finger for him to follow; it wasn't the giant he needed to be frightened of, at all. 

Orin felt his mouth part on a gasp as his breath came back to him, his skin scorching. 

It was, most definitely, Auur'na.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Orin had only just managed to catch a glimpse of the pair of them as he rounded the corner. 

The building they had disappeared into was a short one, built from worn stone and looking older than those around it. The structure was one he had passed by once, he thought, for a brief moment... It was as long as some of the newer buildings were tall and Orin took it in with no small amount of interest as he trailed off the path from the field he had been in all evening. His notepad and a small selection of plant off-cuts were stored in his satchel and he slung it around his chest to secure it as he strode forward. 

He could hear them, when he entered the main hall behind the ornate front door, his eyes narrowing as he glanced around the circular room until his gaze settled on two short, silver tails tucked behind one of the immense round pillars that held the building up. Orin grinned. 

He dropped his body low to the ground, converse light and quiet against the simple, stone floor as he inched steadily closer, the hushed whispers and throaty giggles causing a smile to splay across his face. 

"What are you two doing?"

Brac'n's undignified squaw was silenced only by Sah clapping a pale hand over the younger child's mouth, his silver eyes wide and filled with laughter as he grinned up at Orin. The smaller child righted himself as Sah reached up to drag Orin behind the pillar by his shirt collar. 

"Hush!" Silver eyes flashed, one finger lifting to press against his lips as his tail steadied behind him. His light brown hair was pulled back in a braid that mimicked the one Brac'n was struggling to twist back into a bun. "They will be... Out... Soon..." Sah's voice was was a gentle whisper, the older child taking Orin's cheeks to point the blonde's face in the direction of the wooden door to the right. "Want to... Sneak in."

He flashed Orin a grin, impish and full of mischief. Brac'n was leaning between them, his dark eyes sparkling. He nodded quickly, tugging at Orin's sleeve. "Want to. See... Old rooms. Help. Orin?"

Old rooms? 

Orin cast a glance over the heavy looking door, it was slightly different to the doors he had come across in most of the other buildings; built with a latch near the top instead of the midway handle. He hummed. 

"Are you supposed to be in there?" He glanced back down at Brac'n, lifting an eyebrow when the boy flushed and shrugged one shoulder. Orin snorted. He looked back at the door, freezing when he heard voices from within, too muffled to make out anything even if he could understand the Teluan language. They seemed to be getting nearer to the door. 

"Once." Orin said suddenly, swinging his bag back around and popping it open. "I will help once, you have one chance. If you don't make it, you don't try again until you're allowed. Deal?"

He looked first at Brac'n who bobbed his head, his hand lifting to clasp the one Orin put out in front of him, before turning to Sah with a sterner look. The blonde put his hand out, taking in the stubborn set of the boy's lip with a smile. "One chance, Sah. If it is for you, it won't pass you by."

The boy frowned, silver eyes narrowing up at Orin, before he nodded once and clasped the human's hand. The pair of children broke into giggles that they smothered in their hands, shoulders shaking as Orin shook his head and dipped his hand into his bag to lift out the armful of plant pollen stems he had collected. 

So much for researching back in his room where it was cooler. 

He moved quickly, launching forward as soon as the door slid open and blowing on his armful to release the soft, white pollen into the air. It clouded quick, drawing an alarmed yelp from the tall form of Lud'r as the massive Teluan jumped and fell back. He hit the ground with a startled yowl, knocking about something that clattered, unbroken, as the two children raced past him shrieking sounds filled with laughter and delight. 

Orin watched them make it passed the threshold, Lud'r's reaching arms useless where he lay tangled and battling the still floating pollen. They had gotten so far, he almost groaned when arms reached out and snatched both Brac'n and Sah around the middle, drawing matching sighs from the two of them. 

Auur'na stepped into the main hall, his eyebrows lifting as he took in the shape of Lud'r and the two children squirming where he kept them locked in his arms, resting idly against his hips. Orin gave a bark of a laugh, only for a hand to settle on his shoulder. He snapped his head up to see Ifrin staring down at him, an amused glint to the Telua's dark eyes despite the frown on his mouth. 

"I believe I have found the leader." 

Ifrin cast a look at Auur'na, before glaring down at Lud'r. "Do get back on your feet, Lud'r. They threw Seedlings at you, not rocks." 

The large Telua groaned as Ifrin stepped over him, his hand gripping Orin's shoulder still as he brought the blonde trailing after him. "Do deal with the children, Auur'na. Orin will be safe with me, for the moment."

Orin had only enough time to grimace as Auur'na smiled down at him and Ifrin pushed him into the room the three had just left; shutting the door behind him. 

"You do realise that matured Telua hearing is incredibly accurate. We can hear you when you are on the opposite side of a door." 

Orin glanced up at Ifrin, lips tilting in a grin. "Didn't stop me from knocking Lud'r down with just a breeze."

Ifrin's dark eyes glittered, his fingers beckoning Orin forward as he walked. The room had a low-ceiling, but was wide and long across. Its stone floors were worn smooth with use, the tables and chairs within made from a golden wood. They felt old, sleek and polished, beneath Orin's fingertips when the blonde reached out the run his hand down one table. The windows were small by Teluan standards, set high on the walls and streaking in strands of sunlight across glass frames filled with documents that lined the walls. 

"Do you know what these are?"

Orin moved closer to inspect one of the massive frames, taking in the sheets of paper and the slinking, curving, black Teluan script that filled every single scrap. Some were ancient, he could see it in their colour, in their brittle corners and faded ink. He frowned as he moved to the next frame, taking in the same style and yellowing pages. 

"Documents?" He guessed, lifting a hand to touch the frame of one of the glass cases. 

Ifrin hummed, touching two fingers to Orin's shoulder to turn him around and moving him to walk past the other frames. "Voices."

"Voices?"

Ifrin nodded, moving them both slowly, past pages half tattered and worn with time, weathered and fragile beneath the glass that kept it frozen. "These are the voices of our ancestors, the voices of our Council, past and present. These are the thoughts, the doubts, the fears, the praise, the acknowledgment of thousands and thousands of Telua." 

Orin glanced at him sharply, before staring back at the frame beside him, taking in the many sheets of white paper behind it. Every inch of white was taken over by that beautiful Teluan script, perfectly straight and immaculately written. "They're opinions?" Orin frowned, "On something in particular, or random?"

"Both, and neither," Ifrin smiled softly, reaching a hand out to touch the glass frame with something sad in his eyes. "This one here bears the words of my Sire. He speaks of needing a barrier around sky settlements to ensure the safety of those within... It was a worry of his, that my brother and I would fall beyond his reach one day." 

Orin winced, thinking of the strong, incredible trees that bordered the settlement of Teh. "Like Kua?"

Ifrin's dark eyes were pained, before he glanced down at Orin with something of a nod. "Like Kua. It is because of the words of my Sire that Teh was built with the Bellow Trees to encase and guard it. They grow strong and tall and most other sky settlements have chosen to follow this way. Some settlements are set in valleys, deep within the ground; they do not risk any... Falling."

Orin looked at the script beneath Ifrin's fingers, his brow furrowing. "So... They're opinions that have been taken on?"

Ifrin moved them again, slowly, giving Orin time to take in the frozen pieces of paper. "They are the worries and fond recollections of a hundred generations, written down by the Council so that we may acknowledge the worth of words. What the Council deem fit and what the Telua people deem fit, both are equal and must always remain so. We give a voice to those who may not have one of their own. We ensure it is considered."

Orin's thoughts flickered back to the ship, back to the small alcove he had shared with Auur'na as the man thought him the most basic phrases of the Teluan script. His eyes widened. "This is Auur'na's job?"

Ifrin hummed with a nod, opening a door at the end of the room and guiding Orin through it with a gentle smile. "This is a task Auur'na took on in the aftermath of Kua's death. He believed my Sire's words could have saved his bonded, saved our friend; had they been acknowledged sooner. He traveled wide to gather the experience and thoughts of many and he wrote them all down. He tasked others with helping him when we began to reach for the stars, and passed it on entirely when we first discovered Earth," Ifrin smiled suddenly, looking down at Orin, "When we heard you." 

Orin glanced around the new room, taking in the darker light. More frames hung across the walls here, far more. There were journals lined upon every shelf and table, soft woven spines and worn covers letting Orin know that, if he were to open any one of them, he would find it full. "You mean when you guys found the Communicators? The audio snippets we sent out?"

Ifrin moved them onward, skating his pale, silver fingers across the top of a desk stained with splotches of black ink. "We reached space long before we ever received a glimpse of your communications. Though we traveled further and further out, we believed ourselves to be alone in the universe. When we stumbled across your message, the majority of Telua found peace in that. The Council rejoiced. Auur'na and I were... At first, against making contact."

Orin startled, dropping down the small, glass inkwell in his hands and wheeling around to face Ifrin. "He... You were against it?"

Ifrin's eyes darkened, his hand lifting to slide the lock open on a door that Orin had not even realised was there, before nodding to the blonde to head in first. Orin felt his stomach tense, for the first time in the days he had spent with the Telua, he was... Wary. He walked through slowly, blinking against the sunshine that slanted through windows set narrow and high across the ceiling. The room was incredibly large, all walls decked in brilliantly coloured tapestries that draped a story he could not understand across the length of the space. 

Set in front of him were not tables and chairs, but pedestals made of silver and wood. They stood tall, most covered in glass cases that were pristine and glistened beneath the light. Orin felt his eyebrows lift as he leaned up on his toes to inspect the one closest to him, or rather; to look at what was held inside. 

A sword. Gleaming and splattered with a black as dark as the script in the room before him, though Orin very much doubted that this was ink. He looked around with a gasp, his eyes widening. Every, single pedestal in the room contained a weapon, each one more worn and splattered than the last. With his heart in his throat, he took a step back; and jumped when Ifrin's hand came down on his shoulder, a gentle rumble in the Telua's chest. 

"We were not always a peaceful race." The man's voice was hushed, soft and yet incredibly loud in the silent room. "The Telua once waged wars among themselves, we destroyed families for the sake of honour, killed innocents for the sake of duty. We lived fiercely and we died young, our voices lost to the ages beneath the smothering weight of what was deemed... Right and just." 

Orin glanced up at him, taking in the curl of the Telua's lip, the way his dark eyes looked down on the sword as though it were a viper that would launch up at strike him down. Ifrin growled. 

"We were ruled by settlement Monarchs and an instinct that drove us feral. A deep, terrible greed and want and pride. We Prime were used as soldiers, warriors. We were trained to tear down all who threatened the village we guarded, be it Mature or Child."

Orin followed him as he began to walk, the man's tail flicking back and forth with his discontent. The weapons they passed sent a violent shudder through the   
blonde, each one familiar in a most primal sense. Swords, daggers, knives, chains, arrows, axe-heads and spears... The room held everything he could place a name to and more; intricately wound and perfectly created tools of slaughter. 

"Our lives were tense. Those who longed for peace fell fast to instincts when threatened, well honed from generations of knowing no alternative. We would fight, plead for peace, receive it for a time and lose ourselves again to revenge and bloodshed and battle. It was a vicious cycle, one broken just as viciously."

The tapestry Ifrin led them to was one of the most simple. It was painted on a swath of pale green fabric that stretched the entirety of the wall. In the centre was a perfect circle of red ink, inter-spaced by four hand painted symbols. The first began at the top and Ifrin pointed to it, glancing down to make sure he held Orin's full attention. 

"Bloodlust." 

The symbol was sharp, harsh angles and rigid lines. Ifrin moved his finger slowly around the circle, stopping at the second symbol by the bottom. 

"Mercy."

A fragile symbol, curved and simple. Orin tracked the Telua's finger again as it moved to the final symbol in the circle shape, this one just a simple straight line with a circle set in the centre. 

"Peace." 

Where the peace symbol ended and the circle began again to lead into bloodlust, there was a gigantic rip in the canvas. The edges was ragged, torn and frayed by a cut that tore through the painted line and broke the circle. Above this jagged incision, there was a fourth symbol. This one was done in a red ink so deep, Orin felt something unsettling in his stomach just from looking up at it. Ifrin paused his finger above it, his smile pained. 

"Sacrifice."

Orin frowned, his hands twisting on the strap of his satchel. He glanced up at Ifrin, taking in the man's rigid stance. Ifrin looked down at him, and relaxed by a fraction, turning his back on the tapestry to take a breath. 

"The circle was unending for so long of our history. It was the way of things, the way of life. During a period of peace, brief as they were, two Monarchs began fighting again. War loomed on the horizon. We anticipated bloodshed, pain, battle, when the Monarch Ap'Bahn slaughtered the young son of another; Inah."

Orin felt his lips twist, his sigh mournful when he looked backed up at the tapestry. As haunting as the Telua history was... It was familiar. 

"When Inah came upon the child of Ap'Bahn, however, caught between his warriors and the warriors of the battling settlement; he threw himself in front of the youth and sacrificed himself in the boy's stead." Ifrin moved Orin slowly, turning the blonde until he faced a glass case held upright and towering over both him and Ifrin. The spear was long and built of a silver that almost glimmered white. Both the blade and handle were coated in black and Orin felt a chill race up his spine. History stories were one thing, but to see the actual weapon from such a legendary tale... It was terrifying. 

"With one sacrifice, Inah ended the war before it even began. He had ended the cycle before it could start anew." Ifrin was smiling, this time sincere enough to show a fraction of teeth when he glanced down at Orin. "To honour the life spent to save his son, Ap'Bahn worked to disassemble the Monarchy, to create something new. With Inah's bonded Mates by his side and a scant few others, he created the beginnings of the Council and decreed our first Rule." 

Orin followed Ifrin's hand as the Telua pointed to a different tapestry, smaller and bearing golden Teluan script decorated in emerald green foliage and spirals. Orin felt his brow furrow, taking in the curving lines with a tilt of his head. "Live and let live."

Ifrin made a sound that was almost a laugh, delighted and surprised, his teeth flashing. "You can read them, Orin?"

Orin gaped, looking at the other, smaller tapestries and the golden script they bore. "Live and let live, perfect love and harm to none, guide the youth and be guided by them... These... This is what Auur'na was teaching me to write on the ship? I thought they were random sayings!"

Ifrin laughed then, dark and deep and Orin glanced back up at him, his mouth set in a line. "This is why you were afraid to make contact with us, wasn't it? Earth's only been at peace a fraction of the time Avan has... You were afraid we'd start up the cycle again." 

Ifrin's gaze was bright, his head nodding once. "When we learned of your history, your wars, your own bloodshed and pain; there was those of us on the Council that feared we would bring ruin upon ourselves." He grimaced, before looking down at Orin with a sigh and a smile, rueful. "But the more we learned, the more we fell in love with humans, Orin." 

"We loved your strength, despite the short lives that spun you in the same circle as we, ourselves, had been in. We loved your courage, to reach out to the world, we loved your songs that spoke of happiness and sadness and love and loss. Humans are flawed, you are young as a species and you stumble often; but we could not leave you to remain alone, as we believed we were alone."

There was something in his eye, most definitely. Orin battled with the sudden closing of his throat, his lips pursed. "Thanks..." He murmured softly, voice coarse. "For telling me this and for taking a chance on us..."

Ifrin guided him back through the door, and Orin took in the many sheets of paper and many, many journals with a new light, his eyes bright. These were Auur'na's jounrals, Auur'na's handwritten papers, Auur'na ensuring a voice to any and all... It was remarkable.

"I tell you this, Orin, because Auur'na is a friend that I will forever protect. His life has been rife with sadness and tortured with loss. I grieve for him, and have done so for many, many years; but, for once, he... Is happy." Orin jolted as Ifrin suddenly stopped, dark eyes locking with his own as the Telua bent down to look him in the eye, his face stoic once more. 

"I tell you this so that you may know that this world and the secrets we hold, are not closed to you, should you choose to stay with us. We will welcome you."

Orin felt his lips stretch, a small laugh bubbling out of him despite his best efforts. "Well, that's a relief, 'cause the second I got on the ship, I don't think I had any intention of ever leaving."

The smile Ifrin offered him was blinding.


	20. Chapter Twenty

The music was incredibly deep, vibrating against Orin's chest from the inside out as though his heart was trying to match the rhythm. 

He was going to be sick. 

"I'm going to be sick."

"Ignore him, Ruuri, he's being dramatic. Orin, smile!"

The blonde threw a filthy glare at Janna just in time to see the woman lift a Polaroid camera and for a flash to go off and blind him. 

How the fuck was she managing to charge a blasted camera?

"Janna, fuck off."

There was a snort of laughter, Janna pulling the snapshot from the top of the camera as it printed, and giving it a wave in Orin's direction before sliding it into a   
small pouch clipped onto her hip. "Less of it, Orin, or I won't be so inclined to help make you pretty for the big dance, will I?"

Christ, the dance. 

He was going to be sick. 

Orin groaned, glancing out the window he had been all but pressed against and watching as Auur'na clasped arms and laughed with a group of Telua that had arrived only that morning. From D'fi's explanation, the group contained the last Council member they had been waiting on before beginning the Welcoming. Ruuri had been delighted to announce to Orin's half-asleep self during breakfast that this meant the first night of dancing would be tonight. 

Tonight. 

Which was creeping steadily closer, like an ominous shadow looming in the distance as the sun drifted slowly downwards and the three moons had begun to peek over the horizon. 

He would have to dance in front of people tonight. Orin felt dread like a stone in his stomach, heavy and solid. The blonde jumped when a hand tapped his shoulder; glancing over at a Telua with hair the colour of slate and familiar ruby eyes.

Ruuri's... Cousin? Blast it, he had forgotten. Orin had been introduced, not three hours ago, to the man who had come all the way from the the colder regions; he had spoken to him for an age on life among snow and mountains and ice and... He could not remember his name.

Orin took the ceramic beaker the Telua was pushing towards him, his eyes as kind and soft as his cousin's. He stood far taller than Ruuri, with wider hips that were decked in silver trousers and his pale, silver fur was a fraction thicker. The Telua smiled down at him, as though he could read Orin's thoughts on his face. Perhaps he bloody well could too; Orin grimaced. "Thanks..." 

"Net'enuala." His voice was deeper than Ruuri's, though he spoke most words with a smile. "Your... friend is calling me... Netti?" 

Of course she was. 

Orin flushed, taking a sniff of the steaming liquid in the beaker. "Janna is the spawned offspring of an Imp. She makes minions of people, not friends. What is this?"

Netti looked, for a moment, startled before a smile lit his face once more. "A plant based... remedy. For... nerves?"

Orin glanced down at the mug, and cast another look out the window to where Auur'na was moving towards the main centre. The golden eyed Telua was dressed in golden trousers, loose and decorated with a fine silver pattern. His hair was loose and swept across one shoulder to half-hide his bare chest; his dark grey skin glistened beneath the faded sun as though coated in oil and Orin felt something fragile flutter in his chest at the sight of him. 

With one look back at Net'enuala, he nodded and downed the contents, placing the empty mug on the table beside him. "Thank you."

Ruuri appeared behind his cousin, grinning down at Orin before pushing the taller Telua aside. "Go and get ready with D'fi, Net. There are others who... seek help with their outfits if you feel no... inclination to dance. Go, go." He waved his hands, watching the other take off through the open door with a laugh and a shake of his head. 

The room Orin had been herded to, by a far too enthusiastic Janna who was now the only occupant aside from Ruuri and himself; was the master bedroom of the redheaded Telua's house. Janna was sat on top of a ridiculously large bed covered in soft blankets of blue and pink, a pillow clutched against her front with her elbows and her fingers steadily holding the camera aloft. 

Orin glared at her again and she grinned back at him. She was dressed in an outfit D'fi had gifted her; a set of silver harem trousers that billowed about her legs and showed the barest skim of white skin decorated with incredible, black tattoos. The top she wore was similar to the one the Telua had first made for Orin, though it covered her midriff and was a pale pink to compliment the girl's skin tone. She would have looked beautiful, with her sleek, blonde hair and dark eyes; were it not for the demonic grin stretched across her face. Orin scowled.

"No need to look so damn happy."

Janna gave a wiggle, tossing the pillow aside and scooting forward on the bed. "Can you blame me, Orin?" she gushed, spreading her arms wide and almost losing grasp of her camera. "This is so freakin' cool! You're finally gonna get off your lazy butt and try to win Auur'na over!"

Orin cast her a withered stare, only for Ruuri to pull his face forward and hum down at him, the Telua's fingers soft and gentle. "Unless it's escaped your notice, Janna, I have been flirting with him! It's not like I've done nothing!"

The woman arched an eyebrow. "You don't flirt Orin. You get flirted at and turn tail and run. You're a goddamn coward."

"Strip!" Ruuri commanded suddenly, interrupting Orin who gaped at him open-mouthed. The redhead tilted his head, before tugging Orin's battered t-shirt over the blonde's head and drawing a snort of laughter from Janna. "Strip, Orin!" 

Orin battled him away, flushing scarlet and lifting a finger in warning to Janna when she made to lift her camera. She set it down with a sigh, putting her hands in front of her eyes. With a mournful sound, Orin shimmied out of his shorts, shoes and socks; drawing a smile from Ruuri. 

The redhead was already dressed, Orin was less than amused to note. Why every creature aside from himself was afforded the decency of changing in private, he did not know. Even Janna had only had D'fi in the room when she was battling into her top. 

Ruuri hummed, hands leaving the shimmering, peach coloured material of his trousers to pluck something from a chair beside him. "D'fi believed... This colour would be... Perfect."

Orin could not help but agree. 

The trousers, as he pulled them on, were done in the same style as the harem pants D'fi had made him his first night on Avan. The material was an incredibly light, sheer gold that clung tight and low to his hips and thighs. Where it met the silver clasp by his knee, the material flared and showed an expanse of his pale shins before cupping around his ankles. 

"No top," Ruuri smiled down at him when Orin turned to look for it, shaking his head against the blonde's spluttering. "No top." He showed his own bare chest, and the expanse of pale pink, oil-like glitter that seemed brushed across his collarbone. "You want to be seen, you... deserve to be seen."

Orin flushed as the Telua drew close to him, the heavy sound of the outside music suddenly picking up; as though more instruments had joined the fray. Ruuri grinned. "They will play until... dawn if they can. Some have not seen their families... in some time. A... festival brings all... kinds together."

The Telua was riffling through a large wooden box that sat on a nearby table, the mirror above it large and clear and Orin looked away from his reflection with a grimace. What was he thinking, expecting to be able to dance with the Telua and look in any way comparable? He was going to make a fool of himself... 

There was the touch of soft bristles against his skin and Orin clenched his eyes shut, Ruuri's gentle trembling purr noise enough to drown out the heavy, lilting music. The blonde felt a brush move to his face, sliding against his eyelids and cheeks, before there were fingers on his lips and in his hair. He opened his eyes softly, to find Ruuri staring down at him, smile soft and sweet. 

"You'll take care of me, right? You won't let me fall?"

Ruuri cooed, the sound gentle and sure; as he cupped a hand beneath Orin's chin. "You will not fall, little dancer. You will be beautiful... I promise."

The redhead tilted his head, as though considering, before he clasped Orin a fraction tighter and swooped in to place a kiss to the blonde's mouth. It was quick, a gentle press of something sweet and innocent and it sent a thrill down Orin's spine that had his eyes blowing wide. Ruuri drew back with a chuckle, licking across his bottom lip. 

"Now Auur'na may have you. I wanted... only to taste."

Orin felt his cheeks flame, Janna's burst of laughter to the side letting him know that the woman had most definitely been peeking between her fingers. He huffed a breath with a smile, turning to glance at himself in the mirror. 

Orin stilled, his lips parting on a breath. The face that looked back at him was his own, he was almost sure. There was a gold dusting across his eyes that brightened the green they were incredibly, a flick of black on the outer point that made him look almost... exotic. His lips were pink and full, the flush of his cheeks spreading to his chest where Ruuri had also dusted him with the same, glimmering, gold oil. It lit the soft tan there alight, until he seemed to glow beneath the gentle bedroom lighting. 

"Woah."

Janna was beside him, looking into the mirror and lifting her camera before he could even summon a glare. 

He had never before in his life looked... So... 

Orin cast a glance back at Ruuri and felt his breath quicken at the seductive growl the redhead let loose, ruby eyes looking him up and down. 

Janna had it in one. 

Woah. 

###

The main centre was full, Orin was horrified to see. 

Nearly every space of lush grass was taken up by groups of Telua, of Humans, of both mixed together and chatting, of children shouting and dancing with the happy little beat some had taken up on the instruments to one side. 

There were clusters standing by tables laid high with fruit and bread and drinks and cakes, talking in English and French and German and Teluan and a dozen other human languages that he could only guess at. The Telua that had arrived in the last few days had taken fast to the scattered humans, drawing them into conversations and discussions on so many different topics. Orin thought he had heard snippets of everything as he passed through, from music to architecture, nature to politics, electronics to astronomy. 

He was half-hidden in the group that had converged on the edge of the worn, stone circle that usually held the main Market place. Ruuri stayed close beside him, the Telua glancing down at him every so often as he spoke to D'fi and Net; as though Orin might bolt given the opportunity. 

He bloody well would have too. 

Janna was snap-happy with her Polaroid, the woman chuckling as she flashed her sight on Ana grinning wide around a purple fruit that had stained the doctor's fingers and teeth. Richard stood handsome and stoic by her side, dressed in traditional human slacks and a pale blue shirt that complimented the pale lilac trousers and top Kou was wearing beside him. 

Orin jumped as Lud'r's laugh bellowed out from a short distance away, the massive Telua reaching down to scoop up a young child and place the boy on his shoulders. Ifrin grinned sharply by his side as the Telua suddenly amassed the attention of all the other children who were suddenly crowding about his legs. 

Orin almost smiled. 

Almost. 

Had it not been for the sudden dip in music as the warm, presence of D'fi vanished and left his hiding place exposed. 

Orin snapped his head to the side to see the dark eyed Telua flash him a grin as he settled behind a Disc-set that the blonde had tragically failed to notice. His slender, marked fingers drew a low starting melody from the instrument that had the Telua around him stopping their conversations to let loose low, delighted yowls. It sounded almost like cheering, thrilling and filled with laughter and a thrumming vibration that echoed through the crowd. 

Net took a seat by D'fi's side with an instrument that might have been a drum, though the thing was larger and the Telua settled it on its side as he tapped his fingers against the silver, metallic front. The sound it made was low, carrying into the dirt and stone around it with an intensity that Orin felt prickle against the back of his neck. 

He backed into Ruuri and the redhead touched his arms gently, his grip solid. 

"With me... First, yes?" Was whispered softly in his ears as a rhythm slowly started to pick up between the two Telua; a melody he had become distinctly familiar with. Orin took a breath, his lips clamping shut over the 'no,' he was determined not to say. There were other Telua beginning to dance, some new and some he had gotten to know by name. A fragile few, in his opinion, outweighed by the stares of all the others who yipped high-pitched chirrs that broke through the warm, evening air. The light around them was dim, the dancing figures lit by the pale light of the moons and the lanterns that flickered with the steady, sensual swell of the music. 

They danced beautifully, some with intent across their glittered faces and some with wide smiles and easy laughter. The younger Telua that danced around the edges of the grass pulled the odd human along with them for a brief moment; answering the shrieks of embarrassment and laughter with yipping, chirping sounds of their own. 

Ruuri was moving him and Orin felt his lips part on the barest of whines, his stance stiff and his posture rigid as the redhead chuckled gently in his ear and moved to stand behind him as he had done at the beginning of their lessons. 

"Breathe, little dancer... You are beautiful..." 

Hands skimmed along his arms, and Orin felt his eyes fall shut as he tried to calm the erratic pattern of his breath, his heart. The music thrummed steady, though he knew it would quicken and darken to something erotic; electricity beneath his skin. 

He let Ruuri drag him into the first swell, fingers skimming hips, trailing hot against the skin of his waist as they turned. His eyes, he kept closed, bending into the will of the music in a way that might have been muscle memory. He knew the pattern, his own voice sounded petulant in his head, he knew the dance. He had danced this on his own... Despite Janna's whooping, excessive laughter and Richard's nice, but awkward comments. Despite the embarrassment that set his cheeks alight and flushed his chest pink, Orin frowned at himself. 

He knew he could dance. 

His eyes opened briefly, as he followed Ruuri in a spin, lifting one arm high for a moment's pause. 

Auur'na. 

The Telua was standing on the edges of the stone, his arms crossed against his chest as golden eyes, dark and unwavering, watched Orin. Auur'na's face gave nothing away, and Orin felt something hot and searing burn a way down into his stomach. 

He wanted that stare. 

He wanted it on him at all times. 

He huffed something of a growl as one of the Telua's dark eyebrows lifted suddenly and Auur'na tilted his lips in a sudden, soft smirk. 

Ruuri sounded a soft thrill by his side, drawing Orin close to his front as he leaned over the smaller human to whisper in his ear. 

"A Sire who thinks he is in... Control... Who thinks he need only... Beckon and you will bow... Who dares not even grant you... A kiss..." The redhead's voice was a purr, low and silken and devious. Orin felt his eyes flutter half-closed as Ruuri licked a sudden strip against his throat, the sound that left his lips high and light. Ruuri's grin pressed into his neck. "How... Foolish of him..."

Beneath his lashes, Orin had only a fraction of a glance to see Auur'na straighten, the Telua's eyes growing dark enough to smolder. His lip pulled back over impressive fangs and his tail swayed a hypnotic pattern behind him, slow and deliberate. Orin saw it for only a moment, before Ruuri spun him out on his own into a darker curve of music, and Orin felt his limbs take control. 

He brought arms up sharply with the low thrum, crossing them above his head with a smile in the redhead's direction and a gentle, definite curve of his hips. With a sudden sigh, he brought them down, dragging heated fingers against his waist as he spun into a sideways sway, a thrill of a laugh leaving him as his body fell into an easy pattern. This was a rhythm he knew, a rhythm he had practiced. This was a dance his body could perform even in his sleep and Orin tilted his face back to catch the light of the moons as he moved with the beat. 

It lasted a lifetime and a second; the sudden step of one foot against hard stone and the roar of yowls and human cheering filling the sudden silence, letting him know that the song had ended. Orin let his arms drop to his sides with a grin, raking his fingers through his blonde hair as Ruuri chirruped something high and proud beside him. The Telua brought him close to ruffle his hair, and Orin laughed when others swarmed around the pair of them. 

The eyes on him, though they were bright and friendly, felt like a thousand pairs to every one. His grin faded to something of a mortified grimace as he bowed his head and thanked the other dancers, laughing when Janna and Richard shook his shoulder and gave a delighted shout in his ears. His head felt as though it might spin off, and he was glad when D'fi suddenly entered the fray to take the brunt of the praise for his skillful playing. 

Orin squeezed his way out of the group, his shoulders dropping and a sigh heaving out of him as he found himself suddenly on the outskirts. He licked suddenly parched lips, turning to look for the table he had seen only moments before filled with beakers and glasses and bowls of drink. 

He jolted as he was met with a steady golden gaze. 

Auur'na was watching him, the Telua's dark eyes not straying from the blonde's face as he lifted a hand up slowly. For a brief second, Orin looked at it, his cheeks lighting in a flush beneath the heavy stare. 

He brought up his own hand and pressed it into Auur'na's and was met with a low, thrumming growl of a sound that had his lips parting on a gasp. Auur'na pulled him in close, his lips tilting in a smile, before turning around back towards the main village and beginning to walk. Orin followed him with the barest tug against his hand, still clasped in Auur'na's own. Golden eyes glittered down at him, the Telua's rumbling growl sounding again in his throat. 

"I see you, little dancer."


	21. Chapter Twnety-One

The ground was warm beneath Orin's bare feet, the stone pathway soft and smooth. The village around them was quieter than he had ever seen it, everyone gathered towards the centre to dance and sing and drink and eat. He could hear the music pick up even as they walked, light and playful and growing more and more distant the further Auur'na guided him from the rest of the crowds. 

His hand held in the Telua's grasp was hot, skin damp and heated from the dance; though Auur'na gave no indication that he would release it any time soon. The loose, shimmering trousers the Telua wore glittered even in the dimming light as they strolled away from the houses, from the cottages and buildings, from the main path to walk instead through a field of soft, pink flowers that splayed flat across the dry dirt beneath them. 

Orin felt his heart might spill out his mouth if he so much as uttered a syllable. He kept his lips clamped shut, his chest lifting with each deliberately in-drawn breath as he stepped through the wide-petaled flowers. They had a flexibility to them that he had never seen in a plant, springing back under each step as though his weight could do them no harm. He would have to come back here with his notebook. 

"Did Ruuri explain to you the significance of such a dance?"

"Huh?"

Eloquent. Christ, he was eloquent. 

Auur'na smiled down at him, the Telua's hair catching on one shoulder and spilling down his back. Was it as soft as it looked? 

"The dance, Orin," Auur'na's voice was gentle, soft in the silence around them as he led the blonde through a small copse of trees, "Your dance. Do you understand what it was made for? Do you know why some Telua danced it tonight or some did not?"

Orin shook his head, craning his neck back to look at the overhanging branches filled with large, white leaves that nearly eclipsed the light of the moons. The dance had been one Ruuri had picked for him, for them both. It had been a dance that every other Telua in the circle had mimicked. "It's just a dance, right? Just... Something to, ah..." Orin glanced up at Auur'na and flushed, darting his eyes back down to look at the pink flowers that clustered tight together here. "Something to get your attention..."

Auur'na made a sound, a low croon that all but growled from between the Telua's lips and had Orin flushing scarlet. "You danced for me, then?"

The blonde chuckled, reaching a hand up to half-cover his face and casting an embarrassed look up at the man. "Isn't it obvious, Auur'na? The only reason I even considered dancing was to get you to look at me, to see me."

Auur'na did growl then, the noise drawing a startled sound from Orin as Auur'na pulled him in close before dragging him down to the flower scented floor. The Telua caught Orin's unbalanced body with two hands wrapped tight around his hips, steadying him as his thighs splayed across the taller man's lap. The position was not an altogether a foreign one, though Orin thought he might burst into flames with the heat in his cheeks at what it implied now, so far from everyone else and tucked away within the privacy of the small copse. 

Golden eyes studied him with no small amount of humour, the Telua leaning back against a nearby tree trunk and dragging his hands up Orin's waist and along his arms to settle on the human's hands where they lay braced on Auur'na's chest. "I have seen you, Orin, since the moment I met you on that ship, trying to hide your injury to save the emotions of a creature not even of your species."

Orin was lost in those dark eyes, his lips parting and his cheeks flushing still as Auur'na's tail wrapped tight around his waist. "I have seen you in the way you remembered my name, though I gave it only once. I have seen your innocence, your purity, your laughter, your happiness and your beauty in every moment I share with you. I see you, Orin, and I doubt I will ever tire of seeing you."

Orin felt Auur'na hold a hand against the side of his neck, his thumb stroking soft and gentle over the pulse point that must have been erratic to the touch if the state of Orin's heartbeat was any indication. The Telua pulled him in slowly, bowing his head to touch his forehead to the blonde's. With a small hum, Auur'na drew back and pressed his mouth to Orin's. 

The kiss was tender, so much so at first that Orin's startled brain took a second to realise just what it was that was happening. Auur'na's lips were incredibly soft, the man slow and steady as he coaxed Orin's response with the barest flick of his tongue against the seam of the blonde's lips. 

The touch was enough to jolt him in his senses, a noise like a whine leaving him that he was sure he would be mortified by later; but it drew a growl from Auur'na that had the human all but melting to the Telua's front. The touch of the man's tongue came again and Orin panted into it, his lips parting on a high-pitched whine as Auur'na pressed the blonde's own tongue flat and licked inside his mouth. 

Orin could do little to help the noises that poured from him. He had never known himself to be a very vocal person, but he had also never in his life been kissed by someone even as remotely skilled as the creature he was straddling. Orin's thighs trembled with the way they were spread across Auur'na's hips, splayed wide with his knees safely cushioned in the soft pink petals around them. His hands were beginning to grow useless, shaking and clenching against Auur'na's bare chest in a way that let Orin know, without a doubt, that it was the Telua's tail around his waist that was keeping the blonde upright. 

He tried to pull back to pant against the man's mouth, to take a breath of air into lungs that he thought might very well collapse. Auur'na offered him barely a second, before the Telua was growling something dark and unknown in his ear and his hands were back on Orin's waist. Lips captured his own once more, fiercer now than the first kiss and with a tremble of a growl that spilled from them and vibrated through Orin in a way that had him whining. 

Auur'na purred, the sound a solid thing that Orin could feel beneath his hands as the Telua's lips pressed against his throat. 

"You make such pretty noises, Orin..." The words were rough in their English, Auur'na's accent a flicker of a rumbling roll that made his voice dark and slow. "From the moment I heard you sing... I have wanted to make you scream..."

Orin felt a wretched sound tear from his throat, his eyes hazy and bright as Auur'na's fingers skimmed the waistband of his trousers, one slender finger slipping   
below the soft material to pluck it away from his heated skin with a purr that bordered on lewd. 

"You are built like a Breeder... You dance like a Breeder..." The finger ran along the seam of the waistline slowly, dragging the fabric down an inch and tugging at the knot where Ruuri had secured it closed only hours before. Auur'na tugged harder, growling when Orin glanced down between them and let out a desperate whimper. The Telua's body was hot between his thighs, the man controlled in a way that Orin had never experienced. His past experiences of fooling around, of trying new things with others his age... They paled in comparison to the Telua staring back at him with dark eyes. 

His naivety crept like a distant panic along the edges of his mind, distant but no less embarrassing as he realised that he was entirely out-skilled in this scenario. Out-skilled and incredibly under-equipped if the hardening length beneath him was any indication. 

Dear Lord. 

Orin pressed against it only briefly, a sharp sound leaving him at the sudden brush as he tried to hold himself up. Auur'na flashed him a wicked smile, the Telua's hand soft against his lower back before he pushed Orin down firmly and that hard length pressed against the blonde's own. Orin moaned into the touch, bones turning to liquid as Auur'na rutted up against him slowly, the Telua's hip slow and gentle between his thighs. 

The touch to his skin was hot and dry, soft and strong as Auur'na's other hand undid the knot of the golden trousers. The waistline slackened with it, loose and slipping down Orin's hips as Auur'na dipped in a thumb to brush against the scorching skin of the blonde's hip-bone. 

"May I, little dancer?"

Orin nodded with a whine, pressing into the hard length that rubbed so nicely against him and staring up at Auur'na with parted lips and eyes that he was sure were brimming with tears. The sensations were incredible, jolting through him like something new and exciting and clouding his thoughts until he was a shaking, whining mess beneath the dark, gold eyes that glittered in the near-darkness. The Telua crooned a low sound, fangs flashing as he trailed his fingers slowly across Orin's lower stomach. 

"Your dance..." Auur'na whispered the words as his fingers crept closer to their goal, Orin shivered beneath the touch. "It is a dance to draw the eye, yes... A dance to thrill..." Heated fingers slid with practiced ease beneath the layers of golden material, cupping around Orin's length suddenly enough to have the blonde arching his back with a wail. Auur'na answered the sound with a smothered snarl, his fingers gentle and incredibly long against the stiff, heated skin. 

"It is a dance to show to all that you are... Fertile... Wanting... Willing..." 

Orin heaved in a breath, his chest lifting and his eyes fluttering shut as he panted against the spark of heat licking up his spine. Auur'na's fingers were long, knowing and firm where they grasped around the length of him and pulled gently. The blonde gripped the shoulders beneath his fingers with a growl, pressing down against those fingers and Auur'na's own length beneath them. 

The Telua was most definitely larger than him. He could have assumed from size difference in height alone, but Orin felt it now with no mistake. Auur'na was long and hard and ridiculously hot between his thighs and Orin let his legs drop open as he rutted against the slender shape of it, the man's fingers adding a tightness around him that had him all but seeing stars. There was a hand on his lower back that was scorching a mark into his spine, he was sure of it; pressing hard and solid. The Telua's tail was lax about his hips, a gentle scuff of fur and hair that tickled his sides and sparked his senses. 

"I am willing," Orin gasped the words, breath panting between his lips and eyes lidded as they watched Auur'na's face grow slack with pleasure. "More than willing... But just for you, Auur'na... Only you." 

The Telua bared sharp fangs, lips pulling back over a growl that streaked through Orin's stomach like lightning and brought an answering whimper from his lips. He bared his throat to those golden eyes, unwittingly, his head tipping back as he moved his hips faster, harder against the length that seemed to be swelling still beneath him. He knew precious little of how other men reacted with sex, knew even less on Telua sex; but by Gods did Orin want to explore it all with the man staring back at him now. 

Rutting against Auur'na felt as natural as breathing. His every instinct drove him to bare himself to the golden eyed creature and Orin was more than happy to obey. He felt the stiffened shape beneath him grow damp, Auur'na golden trousers slick with a substance that was unknown to him, but something in Orin preened at the sensation. The blonde slid closer, digging sharp nails into Auur'na's arms to draw the Telua's eyes back up to his face. 

"I mean that, you know... About it being only you." Orin's smile was shy as he tilted his head, breath fluttery and soft as his hips hitched and warmth began to pool in his stomach, slow and familiar. Auur'na's brow creased in the barest of frowns, and Orin kissed him soundly on the mouth before leaning forward to groan in his ear. 

"I'm a virgin, Auur'na." 

The Telua stilled, golden eyes bright with surprise for a brief moment, before they darkened to a colour Orin had never seen on the man before. His long hair fell down along his chest as he tilted his head slowly to the side; before Orin suddenly found himself rolled onto his back, his spine cushioned in the pink flowers and Auur'na's dark eyes staring down at him. 

Wide, green eyes blinked slowly, Orin's legs falling open as Auur'na purred a sound that was so deep it seemed to crawl through the blonde's very soul. The Telua slid between his open thighs, his length heavy and hot where it fell against Orin's own between the layers of silk and slick. Orin felt his thoughts spasm with the first roll of the man's hips, his breath huffing out of him and his arms dropping from where they had clung to Auur'na's shoulders. He shrieked with the next roll, the almost-wet, hot slide against his sex enough to have his back arching against the flowers and his eyes snapping shut. 

"You tease me with such words... Little one..."

Auur'na's guttural voice was a growl in itself, exotic and dark and drawing a flush of crimson to Orin's cheeks as he shook his head. "No! No, I just..."

He cried out as Auur'na pressed down harder, rutting against him in a way that had Orin's eyes all but rolling to the back of his skull, his hips twitching desperately beneath Auur'na's one-handed grasp to try and seek more friction. "Please... Please, Auur'na..."

The Telua crooned, dropping his face in close to lick a wide, wet strip across Orin's neck and holding the blonde down against the petals. "You beg so sweetly, Orin... My little Orin..." Auur'na dissolved into Teluan, his voice coarse and filled with purring, rolling words that made Orin feel light-headed, his heart hammering in his chest as the Telua suddenly began to grind down against him in earnest, hard and slow. 

The heat pooled quickly in his stomach, and Orin could do little but focus on the fragile gasps of air he tried to breathe in between the desperate, sobbing mewls that spilled like drool from his lips. His head tilted back, his muscles tense and lean in Auur'na's hold. His climax caught him unawares, a high-pitched keen leaving him as he spilled against his own stomach, soaking the beautiful fabric between them. 

Auur'na's eyes were bright, his fangs flashing in a smile as he pressed himself down on the sensitive organ and drew a whimper from the blonde. The Telua captured Orin's mouth with his own as he rutted slowly, growling a vibration that set the human's skin alight as something slick and scorching and full of the scent of Auur'na spilled between them. There was enough of it that Orin felt soaked, his thighs twitching where they lay splayed and the substance, the source of the Telua's climax, spilling red-hot against the bare skin of his stomach. 

Auur'na stroked a gentle thumb across Orin's panting mouth, lips stretching in a smile that caused Orin to shudder beneath him. The blonde could barely control his own breathing, panting with an open mouth and his arms and legs useless where they lay against the pink flowers. He stared up into dark, gold eyes as he tried to stall his own panting, his head shaking on a short, breathless laugh. "Fuck me."

Auur'na met the expletive with a laugh of his own, throaty and full and his smile stretched further. 

"I intend to, Orin." 

Christ. 

Orin moaned, turning his face aside and into the sweet smelling flowers as Auur'na trailed a hand down his side. 

He was a goner.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Orin was surrounded by the scent of flowers.

Rich and heady and sweet in the warm air, it was a scent that surrounded him as he burrowed deeper into the sweetness, his nose snuffling against the petals against his cheek. 

His body was warm, bathed beneath a sun that he knew was bright even despite his closed eyes. It warmed the slick substance that coated his stomach still and drew something of a muffled groan from him as he tried to turn into the nearest shade. 

There was a sound like laughter, soft and quiet, before his face was shaded from the piercing light trying to pry beneath his eyelids and a blessed cool fell over his heated skin. A hand skimmed along the line of his stomach, gently coaxing a sigh from between his lips as it slipped through the damp and wet and traced in teasing circles on one hip. 

His legs fell open with ease in his half-asleep state, as long fingers spread the mess that covered his lower half slowly between his thighs. There was a sound, like a purr but curious and amused, as those fingers pressed down, one tip catching on the rim of his back passage and pushing in wetly. 

Orin's eyes snapped open, his hand reaching out to grab a hold of the arm nearest to him and a desperate mewl leaving him as he was met with an unyielding golden stare. 

Auur'na was braced on one arm, leaning over Orin so that his brown hair spilled down his shoulder and pooled in the petals beside them. His body shielded the blonde from most of what seemed to be the mid-morning sun. From where Orin could glance down the length of him, the Telua's trousers were still damp with slick, whatever climax and seed he had leaked still wet and warm despite the hours they had spent sleeping. 

Which would have been a curiosity in itself, for the blonde; had Orin not been a fraction too preoccupied with the digit that was currently sliding inside him with the help of Auur'na's... Fluids. 

He squeaked as the Telua pushed in further, his finger slipping against Orin's inner walls. The slide was wet, and Orin felt his head tilt back on reflex as Auur'na cooed a sharp sound and rubbed the digit suddenly against a passage slick and plump with heat. There was a spark of sensation that raced up his spine, new and strange and altogether fantastic and Orin's eyes fluttered shut as he pressed into it. 

Auur'na leaned in with a soft growl, snapping his teeth in a click above Orin's throat that had the blonde whimpering. 

"So soft..." 

Orin felt his cheeks flush at the words, Auur'na sliding his finger in deeper until the blonde groaned at the breech and parted his lips to take a breath. The Telua rubbed harder, a low purr building in his chest that all but turned Orin to liquid; his legs splaying open. 

"So sweet... My Orin..."

"Auur'na..." The name was whimpered, Orin pushing back against the digit inside him as though he might get more friction, a desperate whine leaving him when the Telua growled and withdrew his hand, his fingers leaving a wet trail across the blonde's quivering thigh. 

Orin's trousers was bunched around his knees, damp and silky where they touched his skin; but it was Auur'na's set that he watched as those long fingers unwrapped the knot of material with practiced ease and the Telua suddenly slid the fabric away from his own front. 

Orin knew a fraction of Teluan Biology from what Ana had told him. 

He knew that the penis was usually soft, like a human's, and very much filled to harden in the same way that a human penis did. Why the woman had felt the need to offer this information to him one evening on the ship; Orin did not so much as want to question the inner workings of her mind. He was content to believe that Ana was simply mad and spouted topics of conversations that she thought might warrant the most amount of amusement from a captured audience. 

So, Orin knew and understood that a Teluan penis was soft and got hard. He knew and understood that the Teluan penis was, while soft, protected inside the man's body along with the... testicles, until such a time as they were needed. 

He knew this. He understood that there was a slit-like opening through which the penis and adjoining bits were fed through and back, he understood that this was necessary for protection and considered it a triumph of evolution that the Telua had ended up with such a thing. 

What Orin could not begin to grasp or understand, was why it was in any way necessary for a Teluan penis to be as absolutely fucking huge as it was. 

Orin watched Auur'na's impressive length fill with such a speed, he was surprised the man didn't faint from blood rush. Green eyes, wide with shock, could not look away as flesh stiffened and filled with a deep lilac colour, the length protruding from a slit-like opening that all but gushed a slick, clear substance that smelled of a heady mix of sweet musk and the increasingly familiar scent of Auur'na. 

The Telua's length was slender, but long; near enough the measurement of Orin'a forearm from elbow to wrist, if he were to make a wild guess. Lilac and soft where it brushed against Orin's pale stomach, it was tapered to a blunt point and the slit at the top persistently leaked the same clear, intoxicating scent as the base. Orin's breath stuttered out of him as he watched those dark grey fingers wrap around that length gently and stroke down. 

The scent grew stronger, Orin's tense spine bowing like a cut string against where Auur'na had lifted his other hand to brace against the blonde's spine. Golden eyes watched him as he blinked up, his chest lifting with each inhale of that incredible aroma that all but dizzied him. 

Auur'na cooed, a soft sound, as he stroked down his length again and bowed to place a gentle kiss to Orin's panting mouth. "Too much scent, perhaps?.. Teluan and Human relations are not... Well documented. It will be a continuous lesson for the both of us, My Orin."

Orin whimpered as that scent slowly retracted, his head-space clearing by a fraction as he dug his nails into the arm still held in his grasp. He frowned. "You can... Alter your scent? Really?"

Auur'na hummed, trailing his fingertips against Orin's hip before turning the blonde towards him slightly and bringing that warm length brushing against Orin's own. "Not so much alter. Telua cannot change their scent... When emotional. I can control myself. Our scents are most pronounced to other Telua; rarely, if at all, are they apparent to humans..."

Golden eyes glinted down at him, before Auur'na was sliding his length between Orin's thighs and pulling him close by the hip. The slide was incredibly wet, heated slick coating the cleft of his backside as Auur'na pulled his hips back slowly with a growl. "You seem sensitive to my scent at the moment... I am unsure if it is due to the Mating... Or just you..." 

Fangs flashed in a smile and Orin groaned as another wet slide pushed against his sex and his length was trapped against Auur'na's lower belly. 

"You react like a Bearer on the cusp of heat... It is incredibly alluring." 

Orin whined, low and long, as Auur'na suddenly started up a rhythm. The Telua rutted against him slowly, and Orin could do little to help the twist of his hips back as Auur'na growled something dark and short in his ear and the slick, Teluan fluids made the slide all the easier. The blonde felt heat pool quickly in his belly, low and lightning fast and he whimpered as he quickened his pace. His fingers gripped hard to the muscle of Auur'na's arm and he tilted his head back to breathe as that musky, sweet scent doused his senses once more. 

He was beginning to think it might not have been the scent of the flowers that had woken him. 

His climax came with a wail from his lips and a spurt of heat across his stomach, pearly white in the sunlight as the tip of Auur'na's length caught briefly on his rim. The Telua bowed his head with a dark growl as he ground down, burying his nose in Orin's pale neck and letting loose a sharp thrill of a sound as he spilled against the blonde. 

Orin glanced down with a huff, his lips lifting in a slanted grin. 

"You owe me new trousers."

Auur'na chuckled a breathy laugh where the Telua was still half-leaning against him. 

###

As it happened, Auur'na lived in a home not far from the copse he had dragged Orin to the night before. 

Secluded in a small section of silver trees, with only the rooftops visible beyond the hill to show how far they had come from the village centre. The house was small, incredibly so, but Orin was charmed as he trailed his fingers along pastel yellow hallways on his way back from the bathroom. 

It was an essential, unnecessary home, Auur'na had explained; existing should he ever settle in Teh and have need of it, but empty for the most part. With the work that the Telua had spent the majority of his life doing, it remained sparse. It held only a living room, kitchen and bedroom. The bathroom, Orin had quickly found out, was a small, snow-white cubicle just off the only bedroom, with black flooring and the standard toilet, sink, mirror and shower stall that were used in the shared bathrooms at the Hotel. 

There were no photos lining the walls here, no trinkets or ornaments. The furniture was beautiful and soft beneath his hands as he watched Auur'na tie his damp, brown hair in a braid. The only thing that seemed to set it aside from the rooms in the Hotel, were Auur'an's many notebooks and regular literature which lined every spare shelf and brought a smile to Orin's mouth. 

He skimmed spine after spine as he walked towards the Telua. His legs were almost bare, for the moment. The garment he wore beneath a thigh-length tunic that was much too large for him, was more a makeshift set of boxers, rather than a pair of actual shorts. Still, it hid everything from view and the material clung tight to each thigh and his waist, the memory of Auur'na's fingers still ghosting across his skin. He plucked at the soft pink collar of the tunic with a shake of his head. It slid over one shoulder precariously, hiding most of the tight pants beneath. 

Orin could dig a pair of sweatpants out of his own wardrobe once he made it back through the village... Somewhat clothed. He could only pray he made it back to his room before Janna could find him.

A hand on his chin jolted him from his musings and Auur'na chuckled as he tilted Orin's face up slowly, sliding his lips against the smaller man's in a gentle kiss. The Telua pulled back with a quiet purr, his hand catching Orin's own and his smile bright. 

"Let me take you back, lest they think I have stolen you." 

Orin snorted as he followed, throwing one last look behind him at the plain, uncluttered home set in the field of pink flowers. He would be coming back to inspect every inch of that house.

Whether it was the fact that it was quiet and away from everything and everyone else and reminded him of his home back in Ireland, or whether it was the fact that it was simply Auur'na's; something about about it just melted his heart. 

"Are you in the habit of stealing humans then?" He turned back to Auur'na with a grin, taking in the Telua's loose, blue trousers and bare chest. There were the palest, lilac scratches across the man's arms and Orin flushed to think that he had put them there. 

Auur'na chuckled, his golden eyes flashing as he slid a gentle thumb across the back of Orin's hand. "If it meant a thousand mornings like the one we have just shared, then I would gladly steal you away forever, Orin."

The blonde tugged at a loose lock of his own hair, before rolling his eyes and turning his face away to hide his smile. "You sap. You do realise you don't need to kidnap me for that, right?" Orin glanced up, before bumping his hip lightly against Auur'na's leg. 

The Telua was purring, the sound deep and relaxing as they walked along the stone pathway back to the village. Auur'na's lips were gentle with a smile, his tail a soft sway behind him that wrapped lightly around Orin's waist. The breeze around them was so light it barely brushed through the leaves, quiet. 

Peaceful. 

Orin tilted his face up towards the sunlight, a sigh leaving him. It was a peace he had felt before, back home, if only briefly. The peace of having finished a task that had been so complicated it had taken nights of sleep from him. The peace of a break, spent beneath a tepid Irish sun with nowhere to be and nothing to do. The peace of knowing his mother in the next room, singing to her heart's content and mercifully free of pain. 

He felt Auur'na's tail wrap more firmly around his waist, and smiled. 

The Telua was tracing light shapes against his arm with his fingers as they came along the edge of the village, his smile wide and bright. There were few about, and those that were greeted them with with a sleepy peacefulness that spoke of a night well spent. How long they must have stayed awake, dancing into the night, Orin had absolutely no idea. 

Orin held fast to Auur'na's gentle grasp as familiar laughter sounded suddenly and a rigid sigh of defeat left him as he turned to arch an eyebrow in the direction of the culprit. 

Janna was squealing even before she made contact with him, her arms wrapping tight around Orin as she hefted him an inch off the ground and he batted at her shoulders to be let back down. "Oh my little baby boy is all grown up!" 

Janna's voice was loud and high against the sleepy silence, but it brought a reluctant smile to Orin's face that he tried to temper down with a scowl. He slapped at her hands as she tried to grab his cheeks, growling at Richard behind her when the man did nothing but snicker. Janna was dressed still in her outfit from the night before, her eyes bright with lack of sleep and her hair wild about her shoulders. 

"Christ, did you two even sleep?" 

The woman snorted, squashing Orin against her front with a sigh and all but smothering him. "Of course we haven't slept, Orin. At what point do you think it would have even remotely been possible? Hmmm?" She bowed her head to listen to his muffled protests, releasing him a fraction to allow him take in a gulp of air. "Oh, that's right! You wouldn't know how incredible last night was 'cause you mysteriously vanished! Isn't that right, Richard?"

The dark-eyed man was nodding solemnly, his lips stretching in a smile. His outfit was impeccable still, though his hair left something to be desired where it stood up on one side. "She is quite right, Orin. We were very worried. Thank goodness Auur'na seems to have found you safe and sound... If a tad... Under-dressed?"

Orin turned a betrayed scowl on the man as the Telua behind him barked a sudden laugh and Janna released him to ruffle his hair. She cooed, hands reaching down to her side. "Oh but isn't he just darling looking? Orin, sweetheart, do me a favour and spin for me."

The blonde cast her a suspicious look seconds before Janna lifted her Polaroid and snapped a picture. 

He was going to break that damn camera. 

"I don't see what I ever could have done in my life to warrant the two of you as friends." 

"Terrible things, I'm sure." Janna sniffed at him, re-clipping her camera and smiling down at him. "But I am happy for you." 

Orin flushed, casting a glance at Auur'na to find the Telua perking suddenly as though he had heard something. The man's head tilted, before golden eyes turned to seek something out. There was a soft tap, so gentle that Orin barely heard it at all and the group glanced up at the building beside them to find Lud'r tapping the glass of a top window. The tall Telua's face was a bored grimace as he nodded in a different direction unseen to them. 

Auur'na sighed, his mouth twisting in a wry line. "It seems Lud'r has found a way to get himself reprimanded this morning. I will assist him, lest his temper get the better of him." 

Golden eyes settled back on Orin for a moment, before a sharp smile lit Auur'na's face and he dragged the blonde into a kiss that was deep and possessive. There was a growl, low and sweet, before the Telua pulled back and moved towards the opposite building. 

Orin turned back to his friends with a sigh, his cheeks a molten pink. Janna's fingers were frozen on her camera, still clipped to her side and she seemed to realise her missed opportunity with a scowl. 

"Dammit!" 

Richard moved them on, his own smile soft as Janna tried to pry details from Orin and the blonde swayed between snapping at her to mind her business and blushing to the roots of his hair. The village was very slowly coming to life around them, though some curtains remained stubbornly closed against the heat and light of the rising sun. They walked along the outskirts as they talked, Orin wedged between his friends as though he had always belonged there. He was snickering at something Janna had said to Richard when something grabbed the back the back of his tunic and pulled. 

The touch was light but desperate, and Orin turned to find Sah staring up at him. The child's hair was loose about his shoulders, a stray leaf caught in the brown locks. "Sah?" Orin frowned, the boy looked wild, silver eyes blown wide and chest lifting as though he had run from somewhere. "Are you alright?"

There was a sound, a horrific, keening, short wail that left the boy's lips as his eyes darkened and he shook his head. It struck through Orin's chest like a knife and brought him bending down to grab the boy's shoulders gently. 

"Easy, Sah. Take a breath, that's it, deep in and let it out. What's happened?"

The child's hands had begun to shake, his form rattled and his words Teluan and broken over each gasp of breath he suddenly tried to take in. Orin felt his brow furrow, his eyes catching Ricahrd's and nodding back in the direction they had come. 

Get help. 

The taller man was gone with a nod, Orin turning back to Sah as the boy begin to breathe and grasped Orin's hands with a tight clasp. 

"Brac'n! Brac'n... Orin... Help!"

Another low groan left the boy, desperate and piercing as he pointed a shaking finger back the way he had come. The path Sah had run through led in only one direction, to the bridge that connected the village of Teh to the valley they had landed in. To the bridge lined with trees, where the children liked to play. 

Trees with roots that tore away like paper... And fell into the emptiness below.

Orin felt his blood grow cold, his lips mimicking a calming breath that Sah was trying to follow even as his thoughts ran suddenly wild. He reached a hand out to Janna, pushing her back towards the village. 

"Get Auur'na."


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Orin held little thought for what exactly might have been the next best course of action. 

Had he been older, more experienced, maybe he might have waited. He might have tried to calm down a child that was wide-eyed with fright and whimpering in his ear; he might have tried to find Sah's parents in the sleepy, quiet village that had yet to realise that one of their own was in trouble. 

That a kid was in trouble.

As it was, the blonde had wasted not a second in taking off in the direction of the bridge. His feet were running before he could think on an alternative, bare footed over the stones and rocks that made up the edges of the valley. He knew he had to be hurting himself, that there had to be branches and hidden snags catching the soft soles of his feet as he raced towards the trees he had not seen since his first day on Avan. 

It mattered little though. In fact, it did not matter at all when Sah was running just as quickly by his side, the child's silver eyes sharp with determination as the pair raced their way through the underbrush, over loose rocks and down the edge towards where the bridge flowed over the crystal clear sky towards the second valley. 

Where once he had looked at it as a thing of incredible beauty, Orin stared at it now in dread. The trees were still against the gentle, warm breeze, leaves calm and quiet. Orin drew to a halt, his chest rapid with the pace of his heart. "Where is he, Sah?"

The Telua was shaking, his mouth set in a grim line as he padded forward, tail an aggravated swing behind him. With one thin hand, the boy pointed towards one of the larger trees; set close to where they stood. 

It was ancient, its trunk just wide enough for two children to have made their way up into the leaves. It was littered in smaller boughs, close to the path, and larger ones as far up as he could see. Branches sprung in every direction from its massive crown, some thin and brittle with age. It was on one of the sturdier, thicker branches that Orin saw him. 

Wrapped around the limb of the branch, and whining the softest, most heart-wrenching cries that the blonde had ever heard in his life; Orin saw Brac'n frozen and half-hidden in the leaves. The branch he had ventured towards hung over the cavernous space below, far from the tree's trunk and tipping beneath even the fragile weight of the boy. 

It would snap if he held on any longer. 

Orin brought a hand to his mouth, stilling the sob that threatened there and turning to Sah when the boy keened a cry in answer to Brac'n's terrified sobs. Silver eyes turned to him, wild and afraid. 

"He went... Up too far! Too far up! Too far out! Can. Not. Reach... I nearly fell..." The boy was struggling to growl the message to him in English, his own native   
tongue inter-spacing each broken, fragmented word with a simpering growl that chilled Orin. 

Afraid. The boy had been afraid... Was still afraid... 

Orin pulled the child close, staring up at the shivering, small form of Brac'n with a horror he tried not to show on his face. "You did the right thing. We'll get help, and get him down, Sah."

The child dissolved into tears, his sobs wracking through his small body and Orin pulled him closer as the sound of running, growling reached them both. 

Ifrin was the first to meet them, his dark eyes impossibly wide as he glanced first at Sah, before looking up into the tree they stood under and freezing at the sight of Brac'n. He started forward with a vicious growl, stepping one arched foot against the base of the tree and pushing down hard. There was a panicked yowl behind him as it swayed suddenly, a sound like a gentle, threatening creak tearing through the air. Orin dragged Sah aside just as a form raced passed them, his heart clenching. 

Ifrin reacted with lightning speed, catching Ruuri around the middle and stopping the Telua in his tracks where he was about to launch himself towards the tree. Orin watched the redhead snarl, his nails gouging lilac marks into Ifrin's arms as the taller man dragged him backwards and pushed him into D'fi's outstretched arms. 

"Why won't he let him up?" 

Orin jumped as Richard appeared beside him, his chest heaving with the force of his breath and Kou not a pace behind him. The Healer was wide-eyed, his face ashen as he stared up at the shrieking child half-lost in the leaves. 

"It's not strong enough..." Orin's voice was a breath, his hands clenching by his side as Sah turned with a wail and Kou reached out to drag the child onto his hip, his hand forcing the boy's eyes closed. Orin watched D'fi wrap a tighter arm around his Mate, his own eyes pinned on his son. Ruuri's wails were louder than Brac'n's desperate sobs, the redhead vicious in his attempts to get to the little boy. 

"The tree isn't strong enough to hold any of them..."

Kou cooed a brittle sound, glancing towards where others had begun to appear on the edge of the bridge, curious human onlookers and horrified Teluan guests who did not know how to help. "Orin is right. If we put too much weight on it, it may snap under the pressure. Both would fall." 

Both would fall. 

Orin heard Ruuri's shriek in his soul, felt it as though it had lanced through his person. Brac'n's form, half-shrouded in leaves and shadow, looked so very, very small. The boy was so frightened, he would never make it down by himself. Everyone around them was growling, snapping low tones in Teluan and English, trying to coax some sort of plan. 

And all the while Brac'n was on a branch that could snap at any moment. 

They had no time to wait for a plan that might work. Each second was a second the old tree was under more and more pressure, was a second lost of Brac'n's life to petrified sobbing. 

Orin glanced back at Sah, shivering in Kou's arms as the doctor crowded close to D'fi, speaking low and calm to the half-blind, wailing thing that looked so broken in his arms. He had never seen Ruuri so... Helpless... 

Silvery eyes glanced at him from over Kou's shoulder. Orin was not so far away in height from the young Telua that had been with Brac'n on the tree only moments before. Not so different in height... And near enough the same in weight, he would imagine. The old tree may not have had the strength to hold any of the Telua around who could have helped.

But it would hold Orin.

He took a sudden breath, his body tensing as he watched Ifrin turn away from the tree, the scowling Telua's dark eyes on the village as though waiting for someone. Orin's feet had moved as soon as he saw his opportunity, fast and quick against the warm stones and passed the gasping form of Richard as the man tried to reach for him. 

Orin ran, arms outstretched as he jumped to catch the lowest hanging branch of the tree and drag himself against the trunk. It barely swayed beneath his weight, his chest hitting hard against the solid wood and nearly winding him. Despite the abrupt pain, his hands caught firm around the branch and he dragged himself up with not a second's thought on the startled, terrified growl that sounded below him. 

He couldn't look down, his heart a frantic, trembling beat in his throat as Orin dragged himself up, branch over branch. The trunk was old, the wood indented and split and perfect for climbing. His fingers grasped each nook, one after the next as he hauled himself upwards. The sun had heated the plant dry, and it cracked beneath his bare feet on more than one occasion; still he climbed, his brow furrowed and his eyes glued to the tiny, shivering thing that was getting ever closer. 

Orin gasped as he reached the bough that Brac'n clung to, his own arms a shivering mess of red welts and scratches. His hair, he was sure, was littered with bits of bark and pale leaves. He wedged himself against the edge of the bough, back to the trunk as he turned to look at the young Teluan with a sudden, triumphant smile. 

"Now what are you doing all the way up here?" 

Brac'n jolted, his black eyes wide with fear as he looked up and started sobbing anew. The branch beneath him was brittle despite its width, the part connecting it to the trunk already cracking along the edge in a manner that set Orin's heart racing. It creaked even beneath the gentle weight of his hands as he leaned forward. 

"Come on, love. We're gonna get you back to your family, but I need your help, alright?" Brac'n's wails grew soft, his black eyes locked on the arm that Orin held out and his entire body shaking. His hair was tied back in a strict braid, and the clothes he wore were loose and soaked through with sweat. Brac'n's face was terrified, frozen and ashen, and a pale, pink line of liquid dripped from the corners of his mouth. The scent of copper and blood was high on the air, standing Orin's hair on end as he stretched his hands out further. 

"Come on, sweetheart. I need you just a little closer."

Brac'n shook his head, black eyes widening and a desperate, keening wail leaving him as the bough creaked again and Orin felt it shift beneath his foot. The blonde exhaled on a broken sigh, his throat tight as he locked eyes with a gaze so petrified, Orin was not even sure if Brac'n was hearing him. He hummed gently beneath his breath, catching the tilt of the child's head and smiled softly. 

"That's it, Brac'n, just listen to me and I'll get you home, okay? Listen to me, love." 

The song he hummed was louder, the notes high with tension but no less familiar. It was a song he knew the boy would know, a song the child had listened to him play over and over again. The gentle croon quieted the frantic noises, Brac'n growing silent as he stared back at Orin with a flicker of something in his eyes. 

"Yeah, it's me, sweetie. You can do this, just a little bit closer..." Orin breathed a sob of a laugh as Brac'n began to inch closer, his eyes locked on Orin's own and his lips trembling. The blonde grinned back at him. 

"You're so brave, keep going, I've got you... Come on, Brac'n love... You remember this song, right? I'll teach it to you once we're on the ground, I promise..." Orin coaxed him with gentle words, fingers outstretched as Brac'n shuffled slowly closer. "That's it... Slow and steady... Can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are... It's enough... For this wide-eyed wandered, that we've got this far..."

Brac'n's face crumpled, his lips hiccuping on a broken little sob as he reached out a hand to Orin. 

The bough beneath them cracked, the sound breaking through Orin's senses seconds before it began to fall. He reached out without a thought, a sharp shriek leaving him as he grabbed Brac'n hard around his waist and dragged him in. The movement forced him to fall, skidding down a short length of the trunk until his quaking legs collided with a sturdier bough below and he crumpled against the tree. 

Orin gasped terrified breaths against the bark by his face as he tried to still the sobs wracking his frame. His body was on fire. His muscles screamed and he was sure he had clean ripped the skin off of one side of his torso, but there was a warm, soft little thing buried against his front and Brac'n was alive and growling and trembling and Orin didn't care if he broke every single bone he had, so long as he had Brac'n safe. 

He clutched his arms around the slender body, his own breath panicked and quick as he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the bough smash against the stone paved bridge and disappear into the nothingness below. There was a sharp pain that was blooming in his neck, where Brac'n had buried his head in fright. 

He would happily take it. 

It was a pain worth it so long as the child wasn't lost to such a fall. 

When his legs began to tremble and lock, and the bough beneath them creaked beneath their weight, Orin heaved a sigh, his stomach twisting sharp and sudden. He moved quickly, coaxing Brac'n's shaking body onto his back and locking the child's arms tight around his throbbing neck as he dug his fingers back into a divot in the main trunk. 

The trek down was one filled with pain. Orin's head begun to throb as they neared the base, the pain in his neck sharp and wicked and his side burning mercilessly with each stretch of one arm below the next. 

He had thought himself frozen as he neared the bottom, his limbs a trembling mess that had locked on a lower bough, before Brac'n's weight was lifted from him and arms were around his waist suddenly and he was being pulled away from the tree. Orin watched Ifrin clutch the child in his arms close as the Telua stumbled back. The man all but fell into Ruuri's outstretched grasp, the redhead thrilling an incredibly sad sound as he wrapped his arms around his son and checked every inch of him for injury. 

Orin felt a smile tilt his lips, the arms around him tightening as Kou's face suddenly appeared in front of him. The Telua winced as he lifted one side of Orin's tunic, the fabric wet with blood where the blonde knew he had rubbed himself raw against the tree trunk. He hissed as Kou trailed gentle fingers down his shaking arms, tilting them around and showing the length of skin he had sliced with the short fall. 

There was a growl building in the chest he was leaning against, Auur'na's scent familiar and strong in the air around him. It was a nice scent... A strong scent... It almost made up for the throbbing in his... Neck... 

He scowled, pushing away the hands that tried to tilt his head. He couldn't turn that way... 

His neck couldn't turn that way... 

It couldn't... 

He shrieked as those hands lifted his chin up slowly, white hot pain lancing through his neck where it met his shoulder. 

There was a choked sound, alarmed and panicked. Orin burrowed himself back against the suddenly frigid Telua behind him; soft cries falling from his lips as his neck seemed to suddenly flare with a pain that took nearly all of his senses... 

"Bitten... Bitten, Auur'na... Venom..."

The words were scattered, slow and weary to his mind and panicked all the same. There was a snarl, dark and pained and Orin tried to reach out a hand to it. The world around him was falling into night, blurring at the edges of his vision as he was lifted, the images around him rushing past him in a strange sort of daydream that seemed to last a lifetime. 

Where were they going?

His thoughts were vacant, the pain the only thing consistent in a world of shadows and snarling voices and the strange, medical, clean scent of... 

He was inside? On a bed? Had that happened to him quickly? 

Orin whimpered against the thoughts that tried to surface above the searing pain, his eyes fluttering to find Ana looking down at him. 

Smile, Ana... You'll get wrinkles. 

His lips twitched, an aborted smile as his neck flared with pain again, his body bucking beneath the sudden slow, molten ice that was flowing sluggishly through his veins. 

Who had injected him with ice?

Ana pulled back as he struggled to watch, a syringe held in one hand as she grimaced at someone beside her. 

Orin tipped his face and blinked slowly up into golden eyes filled with pain. 

Auur'na...

Sorry...

###

Auur'na watched him slip slowly into sleep. Orin looked... Fragile... Amid all the sterile, white sheets and soft bedding. His body looked smaller than Auur'na had   
ever seen it before. 

His skin was raw, rubbed red with welts on some sections and torn through to blood in others. Where he was not bleeding, yellow bruises were already beginning to blossom against pale skin. His green eyes were closed, his head lulling to one side to show the savage mark Brac'n had bitten into his neck in a moment of panic. 

"You have to save him." 

Auur'na's voice was coarse, his stance rigid where he stood at the foot of Orin's bed. Where he would remain, regardless of who sought him out. He would not move until the little creature was safe. He could not... 

Ana rubbed Orin's messy curls from his face, putting aside the syringe with a sigh. "I can't promise that, Auur'na, you know I can't." She held up a hand to his growl, her face stern. "But I can say that Orin has done nothing but surprise me. He reacts to things in a way no other human does and, in a morbid sense, if any human were to be bitten by a Prime; we're lucky it was him." 

Auur'na scowled, his eyes on the small human that looked so very, very... Still. His human. His Orin... The Telua felt his heart begin to shatter. He clenched his jaw, his hands twitching by his side now that they no longer held the tiny human. "What do you mean?"

Ana sighed, glancing back at him. "I've been testing his blood with Prime Venom since the first time Orin told me he could smell it. His blood and the venom donated that day is the first and only stable, bonded reaction I've gotten out of any human tissue and Prime venom sample. None of the human tissue was in any way damaged. In plain terms..." 

Ana watched as Orin clenched his teeth in his sleep with a muted whimper, his fingers grasping at his sides. 

"I've injected him with the only thing that might force his body to accept and adapt." The doctor arched a brow at him, her arms crossing below her chest and her brow furrowed as she glanced back down at the blonde. 

"I've injected him with your venom, Auur'na."


	24. Chapter Chapter-Four

He was sleeping. 

It was a thing that Auur'na had to continuously remind himself over the coming days. 

Each time he glanced down at the small human held against his front, so still and so silent, he had to remind himself. 

Orin was sleeping. 

A deep sleep, and a sleep that nothing could stir the boy from; but a sleep nonetheless. 

Dark grey fingers hiked up the loose, blue shirt he had dressed Orin in that morning with the help of Ana. The material was soft, large enough to skim the human's thighs encased as they were in a pair of plain, black shorts. 

The wounds that the tree had torn across Orin's body only four days prior had healed with a speed that impressed just about everyone. The skin left behind was smooth, unblemished to Orin's natural pale tone. His many bruises had faded to nothing, pale yellow across his cheek and face. They would heal completely in time. 

That Orin's body was healing itself was the main source of hope that drove them forward. 

The human responded to nothing, his breathing laboured and his limbs limp and heavy as Auur'na arranged him to lie somewhat peacefully. There was no scan that Ana had been able to use that answered her questions as to what was happening in Orin's body or in his head. He had stopped his sleepy whimpers and muted cries on the second day. 

By the third, he had become silent as one gone from the world; and Auur'na had begun to fear the worst. 

Janna had been one of the only things to hold his chaotic mind steady, in her gentle ramblings. She spoke to Orin as assuredly as she would have spoken to him awake, asking unanswered questions and telling him stories that had happened as though the boy responded to her each time. 

"He can hear you," she had whispered sternly to Auur'na when the man had cast her a broken look. "He can hear everything, he's just sleeping to get better." 

Richard was often silent by her side, despite Janna's belief that Orin was listening to them. The stoic man watched the human with an intensity that bordered on desperate. A medical mind trying to grasp onto hope for a dear friend. He often scowled, leaving before the small woman with his shoulders tense and a shake to his head. He had been spending more and more time working with Ana in the room where they housed the Prime venom samples, Kou had told Auur'na. 

The Healer was always so soft in his approach, his hands gentle with the tiny, human body that appeared so perfectly healthy. Orin's body took in the nutrients fed to it each day through a contraption Ana had hooked up, but had responded better to the Avan plant Kou had pulped and fed, drop by cautious drop, between parted, pink lips. 

By day three, Ana had removed the drip device with a scowl and a shake of her head. "He needs Avan medicine, not human. I don't know how much more help I'm going to be..." She had said the words with a grimace to her face, her teeth baring for a fraction of a second before she had moved from the room. 

Kou had taken over feeding Orin what nutrients he could to ensure the boy stayed alive. 

Auur'na purred a gentle sound, his arms tensing on the small body against him, before he relaxed with a tempered sigh. 

As far as human medicine could say, Orin was healthy and well and should be awake. 

As far as Telua healing could go, Orin was in perfect condition; no longer needing the rest his body had been begging for the first day. 

The boy was healthy, was alive in any way that they could measure. 

And yet...

Auur'na glanced down at skin an incredibly pale shade of white. The gentle glow the boy had gathered from his time outside had vanished. He was as pallid as the moons, his skin soft from the amount of gel applied to heal his wounds. His only visible scar remained on his neck, a circular bite, half-broken with the line of two, small fangs. 

Orin's blonde hair was long as Auur'na braided it between his fingers, reaching to the boy's hips and growing still, day by day; an unexpected side effect from having such potent nutrients fed to him on a twice daily basis. It would have been an effect that Orin delighted in, he would have laughed had he seen such growth for himself... He would have longed to investigate the plant that caused it... 

Auur'na's fingers clenched on the soft, copper-blonde hair, his chest lifting in a single, shaken indrawn breath. The boy's eyes remained closed, his dark lashes casting a soft shadow across his cheeks. He was beautiful sleeping, alluring in a way Auur'na had seen him to be only once. The boy had a sereneness about him, a gentle peace that could not be broken by those who came to see him and wish him well. 

He was well liked. 

Well loved. 

Auur'na startled as a gentle knock sounded on the room door, his head tilting as the handle came down and Ruuri stepped inside. The young Telua was shattered looking, his prized hair thrown up in a careless knot and his ruby eyes rimmed dark. Auur'na felt his stance relax, a low rumble lifting in his chest that had the Bearer's shoulders sinking low and his breath hitching in a sob. 

The man paced fast across the wooden floor, his lips trembling as he pushed himself up onto the bed and into the crook of Auur'na's open arm. Ruby eyes stayed locked on Orin's face and Ruuri let loose a broken sob when the sight that met him was the same as the day before. 

"He is not awake." 

The man's voice was course, harsh and rasping where once it was musical and light and Auur'na crooned a soft sound as he rubbed along the redhead's back. 

"They say he is healing still." 

Ruuri sniffed, his tail wrapping once around Orin's waist where the bed covers bunched. The redhead placed a gentle hand on Orin's chest, his face tortured as he felt the quickened breathing of the blonde beneath his touch. "Orin..." The man spoke in English, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, "I am so sorry." 

Auur'na made a noise like a growl, his lips turning down as he hoisted Ruuri closer and pressed a gentle kiss to the man's temple. "You and your family have nothing to apologise for, Ruuri; and Orin would insist the same. He would be distraught to think he has caused you any suffering... You or Brac'n."

Ruuri let loose a strangled sob, his chest heaving with a sigh. "Brac'n blames himself in a way no child should ever shoulder blame... It haunts his nights and he is left sleepless and screaming. I beg of him to come with me to see that Orin is well and he insists that he will not, that he deserves no peace of mind. I fear for Orin, Auur'na, truly I do... But I also fear for what might become of my son, should Orin never awake." 

Auur'na's grip became tense once more, his eyes darkening as he glanced down at the human. Auur'na's fear for Orin was a thing so palpable, he could taste it with every indrawn breath. He could feel it in the air around him. It followed him like a darkened cloud when he left to eat or to check on the people of Teh. 

The Council had been swift in their decision to keep the humans active, to show them throughout Teh and explain their history. The humans themselves, were tense. It was a tension Auur'na had not witnessed even during his own time spent on Earth. It was the tension of the unknown, the unexplainable. 

And it was fear. 

Fear for what might become of one of their own. 

Fear of what might become of them. 

Where once the humans may have patted Brac'n's head in passing, now they watched him from afar; their eyes wide and their smiles tepid and frightened. Where once they may have looked up to Ifrin in awe as he explained their darker history, now they walked the tapestry and weapon rooms with questions they were too afraid to ask on their tongues. 

Auur'na feared for Orin. 

He feared for the human he had come to adore, had come to respect and enjoy the company of. He feared the little blonde might never wake, might succumb to his sleep and drift away. He feared of what would become of the remnants of his heart were he forced to endure such a thing.

He feared for his own kind, and what fear might push the humans into doing. 

He was frightened... But he held Ruuri close all the same and hushed the weeping Telua with gentle words and hope. He smiled soft smiles at the humans who glanced at him warily and sat down with them to ask them of their days, when he could. He was firm with the Council to be gentle, to be patient with a species that was younger in years and experience than half the Telua population. 

He would need to find a way to coax Brac'n to visit Orin. For the boy's own sake and for the peace of mind it would offer the humans to see the young Prime wish the blonde well. 

Golden eyes glanced down at Orin as Ruuri fell into a fitful sleep.

"Orin..." His voice was a whisper, a gentle lull in the warm room. "I beg of you, please wake up." 

###

Auur'na woke the morning of the sixth day to the sound of a sudden growl. The noise was not one he often heard in the Medical Centre, peaceful as the building so often was. 

He took a moment to see if the noise had been a figment of his mind, half-lost to dreams and sleep-saturated thoughts. The day had only just begun, the curtains pulled tight across the windowpanes but pale enough to show the gentle sunlight creeping up beyond. 

The growl sounded again, down the hallway that led to Orin's secluded room and towards a large entrance centre. This time, it was followed by a human voice, shrill and muffled behind the wooden door. 

Auur'na frowned, his body fluid as he slipped from the heated sheets and wrapped the cover tight across Orin's still sleeping form. The blonde was as he had been the day before, pale and peaceful; the bruising across his face had faded to nothing. Auur'na offered him a single glance, his eyes soft, before pulling on a tunic that was strung across the back of the only chair and narrowing his eyes at the door. 

The growl sounded again, louder than before. It was familiar to him now and his teeth pulled back at the sound of it. 

Ifrin was calling for him. 

###

He batted at the tickle against his face, swatting out with one hand. 

It came again, something light brushing the very tip of his nose and causing him to sneeze. 

He swiped at it with a growl that seemed to vibrate from his very chest, aggravated and... New. 

Orin blinked. 

His eyes were clouded with sleep, hazy as he glanced around the dim, unfamiliar room. He batted down the edge of the blanket that had been tickling him with the same annoyed growl, stilling when the sound met his ears. 

It was like that of an aggravated kitten, harmless and light, and came from within his throat as surely as any noise he had ever made in his life. 

Except, he had never made that noise in his life. 

He blinked again, eyes snapping into focus with a sudden clarity that almost left him spinning. The strange room was, indeed, unfamiliar to him. It was soft and basic, filled with pastel colour and a plush armchair, and a bed that he was lying on, piled high with blankets and sheets that were slowly melting him. 

He kicked them off with a vengeance, gasping into the warm air of the room as his arms and legs broke free of the swaddling. His limbs trembled, as though they had spent days unused and asleep. He lifted himself into a sitting position after only a handful of minutes of struggling, the same kitten-like growl vibrating in his chest and doing nothing for his newfound nerves. 

Where the hell had he fallen asleep? 

Why had he fallen asleep?

His thoughts were sluggish, memories warm and simpering as they flitted over images of him strewn about the grass beneath... 

Auur'na. 

A different sound left him, his entire body shivering with the gentle mewl that melted out of his lips. He had been with Auur'na. He had been in the grass with Auur'na, walking back with Auur'na, waiting for... 

Orin sat upright with a sudden jolt, a gasp leaving him as he stared around the room with wide eyes. 

He was in a room in the Medical centre. 

He was in a room that Auur'na had carried him to in the Medical Centre after being bitten... After climbing a tree... After nearly falling out of a tree... After... 

"Brac'n!" 

The whisper was a petrified one, soft and breathy in the quiet room and Orin almost did not recognise that it was his voice that had spoken it. 

Bloody hell, where was Brac'n?

Was the boy alright? He couldn't remember... Had someone taken him off of Orin's back?

Did that mean he was safe?

Orin dragged a hand through his hair, frowning when the braided locks he ruffled went on further than they had before. The blonde twisted to catch the thing where it sprawled across the sheets, casting it a wary glance when he saw the length of it. 

Fucking hell... Was he alright?

How was he alive?

Orin clapped a hand to his neck, meeting nothing but smooth skin and the barest of ridges; a scar healed over. How long had he been asleep?

His breath was quick against his lips, his fingers clenching against the blankets as he heaved them suddenly to one side. He grit his teeth against the ache that pulled on his muscles, swinging his legs to the side of the hospital bed and dropping to the wooden floor with a startled yelp. 

He glared down at his feet, narrowing his eyes as he moved them slowly to brace his weight and snorting a sigh when they wavered, but held. he reached out one hand to brace against the nearest wall, tugging at the tunic he wore until he was sure it covered the majority of him. 

What did Auur'na have against him wearing pants?

Orin hissed as he slipped against the wall, sliding forward until his shoulder braced him upright and he half-knocked against the mirror by the door. 

He cast his reflection a glare, before turning back towards the main door. 

He froze. 

With a sudden, sharp breath, Orin snapped his head around to look at his reflection again. 

The face staring back at him was undisputedly, Orin's face. His nose, his mother's chin, his father's cheekbones, all exactly where they should be. His hair was a shade lighter, copper-blonde beneath the gentle light behind the curtains that lit up the room. 

Except, it shouldn't have been bright enough to light up the room. 

Pale as the curtains were, the sun had never shone so brightly through the heavy material of any room he had been in. With his own, human eyes... Orin should not have been able to make out much of anything. 

Orin blinked. 

The luminous-green, Telua-coloured eyes in the mirror blinked back at him. 

His pupil, his iris, the snow white surrounding... They were all gone. Instead, his eyes were a singular, vivid green. It was a colour he had never seen on any human before, bright and intense and shining in the dim light of the room. His lashes were darker, framing the vibrant green and making his eyes seem so much bigger in his pale face. 

Telua eyes. 

They stared back at him with just as much shock and confusion as he was feeling. 

"What the fuck..." 

Orin jumped as a sudden growl tore through the room. He spun around with a yelp, finding only himself still standing alone. 

There were sounds, however, coming from beneath the door in front of him. Snarls and growls filled with emotions his mind was trying to read and his body knew instantly as bad, if the shiver that raced up his spine was any indication. There were human voices too, loud and shrill and grating and Orin growled to hear them. 

He braced himself on weak legs as he strode forward to open the door, twisting the handle and wincing against the sudden noise that clattered against his ears. There were people arguing, from what he could make out of it. 

Humans arguing, or at least one in particular, with snappish English and human growls. The human voices were interspaced every so often with a Teluan voice, calm and tight; or a Teluan voice noising their displeasure with rumblings growls and sharp, low yowls. 

Orin scowled as he made his way down the hallway, his worry crawling against his skin. What were they fighting over? Why would they be fighting? He had not known so much as a whisper of discontent between the humans and the Telua in the time they had been aboard the ship or on Avan... Or even before that when the Telua had been on Earth. They had been such a pleasant people, so welcoming... With the humans eager to cast past suspicion and fears behind them. What would have brought on such an upheaval?

He rounded the corner into a room doused in natural light, the windows opened wide to let in the gentle breeze and streaming sunlight. It was a waiting room of some sort, filled with armchairs and tables piled with books or wooden games to pass the time. A main room for those waiting to check on friends and loved ones who were sick or in need of help. 

A peaceful room... And it was filled with yelling, shouting, growling aggravated people. 

They had their backs to Orin, though he made out Auur'na's and Ifrin's forms easily enough. The pair were tense, tails lashing behind them as they stood between the main rooms and the shouting humans. 

Diana and two others Orin could not remember the names of were stony-faced, expressions unsure and twisted. Janna was fast trying to get in their space, snapping her own teeth each time Richard pulled her back or Ana placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"He shouldn't be here, is all I'm saying! I'm not trying to cause any upset!" 

Janna snarled, striding forward again to point a finger into Diana's chest. "You shouldn't damn well be here! You haven't spoken two words to Orin in weeks, now you think you can just waltz in and make demands!"

The man beside Diana release a wrought upon sigh, his eyes rolling upward. "We are fully within our rights to visit a friend, and we make no demands. We are simply pointing out that having that... Child... In the same space as Orin might be, a little, dangerous." 

Ifrin snarled, stepping in close to a pair standing beside him that were half-hidden from the humans. Orin could make out Ruuri's slender form seconds before Richard seemed to lose his mind. 

"That child is exactly that, fool, a child!" He snapped at the other man, baring his teeth when the man merely raised an eyebrow at him. "He's a frightened kid and he's more than welcome here! Orin would want to see him!"

Diana snorted, crossing her arms across her ample chest and sneering up at Richard. "We think he's dangerous and he needs boundaries so that what he did to Orin doesn't happen to someone else too."

There was shouting, Janna yelling blue murder as Ana scowled down at the irate looking Diana and held the blonde haired female in a firmer grasp. Richard was gritting his teeth at something the unfamiliar man was grimacing up at him and Ifrin was snarling, his hand pushing Ruuri behind him. Orin winced and made to move forward, only for Kou to come striding from another room, his brow drawn down in a furrow as he lifted a hand to still the sudden shouting.

Instead, the blonde watched as Ruuri stepped in behind his mate, his body tense as he wrapped his arms around the small thing in front of him that was quaking against his chest. Brac'n had wrapped rigid arms around his Bearer, his face buried in Ruuri's chest as he trembled against the noise. Orin watched the pair slink backwards, closer and closer to where he stood... Before whipping out an arm and dragging the tightly wound pair in behind the wall that had hid him from view. 

Ruuri turned towards him with frightened eyes, rimmed with dark circles that spoke of nights without sleep. He stared down at Orin as the blonde smiled up at him, his mouth agape. 

"Sorry, didn't feel like havin' everyone's attention on me just yet." Orin huffed a laugh, before glancing down at the tiny thing that was shaking his head forcefully against his Bearer's chest. "Brac'n?"

Brac'n heaved a sob, a soft, terrified thrill leaving him as he shook his head again and buried his tears. Orin felt his heart break, his fingers soft as they rubbed gently against the boy's arm. 

"But you've come all this way to see me, right?" Orin whispered softly, tugging at a strand of black hair with a tremble to his smile. "And I've missed you so much, sweetheart." 

The boy seemed to shatter, his hands dropping from around Ruuri's waist and his pale face turning to stare up at Orin. He jumped, black eyes wide and fearful as he took in Orin's eyes. 

"Different..."

The word was a rasp, the boy's voice tired but still, he reached out a hand to touch Orin's face, his small fingers trailing down until he met the gentle ridge on the blonde's neck. He pulled his fingers back with a sudden gasp, his lips trembling on a broken little whimper. 

"Sorry..."

Orin cooed, the sound a new one just as the growl had been. It flattened in his throat and slipped from between his lips soft and gentle as he pulled Brac'n in for a hug and felt the boy's arms tighten around his waist. "Brac'n, I'm just so glad that you're safe."

Orin caught Ruuri's eye and saw the redhead's shoulders drop with something like relief, his face softening to stare back at Orin's with no small amount of curiosity. The Telua reached out shaking fingers to trace along the edge of the human's eyes, his head shaking softly. 

"Beautiful." 

Orin snorted, his grin half-hidden behind Brac'n's dark hair as the boy leaned against him with a deafening purr. Ruuri smiled back at him, canting his head to listen as the sounds of shouting and growling faded beneath Ana's sudden, stern voice and Kou's gentle tones. Orin frowned. 

Though the argument seemed to have been sorted, and the sounds of feet pacing away meant that that was an end to it for now... He could still feel the tension the snapped words had caused and it irked something inside of him to think that such ugly words could come from the people he had once been on decent terms with. 

Janna rounded the corner with a scowl, grumbling something beneath her breath that Richard was nodding along to, his own mouth opening in a cracking yawn as he tried to settle the woman. Ifrin was fast to follow the pair, his brow furrowed as he glanced around, before settling on Ruuri with a huff of relief; as though he had thought the man suddenly lost. 

Auur'na closed the end of the group, his golden eyes sad and lost in the sunlight.

Orin suddenly smiled and lifted his head. A sound left him that was not unlike a thrill, high and happy and pouring from between his lips unbidden. 

Golden eyes snapped down to meet his, the people in the hall freezing as they spotted him as one. Orin could not break from Auur'na's gaze to see their expressions, their reactions, but his lips lifted in a beaming smile as he held Brac'n close. 

"Mornin'."


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Orin was back in the bed, above the covers this time as he stretched out and took in the exhausted line of Ruuri where the Telua was half-buried in the mound of blankets. 

The redhead had barely made it back to the room Ifrin had quickly ushered them to, before he had groaned and dove face-first into the covers Orin had left tousled behind him. 

Brac'n was a tiny thing against him, curled up tight and pressing his nose against his Bearer's neck where he breathed softly. The fingers of one hand grasped tight to Ruuri's hair, loose and wild as it was. 

Orin hummed as he sat cross-legged beside them both, his fingers swift to tear gently through the knots that scattered about the red hair across his lap. His own hair was still half-confined in its braid, the tail end held firm in the other one of Brac'n's small hands. Ifrin sat in the seat beside them, his eyes weary as he took in his mate and son; and Orin could only imagine that same, tormented look was echoed in D'fi's eyes, wherever the other Telua was at the moment. 

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble, you know..." Orin breathed the whisper to Ifrin, his own eyes downcast as that black gaze pinned him where he sat. Richard had gone in search of Ana and Kou, the man almost uncertain and harried; and Janna was, for once, speechless. 

Orin glanced across at the dark eyes that studied him, his lips twisting to a pout when a small furrow appeared on Ifrin's bow, the man's white hair loose about his shoulders. 

"Trouble is not often a thing we seek out, but we encounter it all the same." 

Ifrin sighed as his words were met with a growl, the stoic presence of Auur'na behind him glaring down at the pale haired man. Auur'na had yet to speak, his gaze locked on Orin for the most part, and his face impassive, as though it held too many thoughts and feelings to show any at all. Ifrin scowled up at him.  
"I meant it with no amount of insult, Auur'na. I owe Orin the life of my son, I owe him the thanks of my family and I will never be able to repay him that." 

Auur'na straightened, his golden eyes locking with Orin's again and his head tilting. He growled low, a curious sound, a question. 

Ifrin sighed. "What I mean is that there exists trouble despite Orin's pure intentions. Brac'n has been branded a monster by some, has not slept soundly once since the incident. Trouble exists, whether we chose to seek it out, or not." 

Janna snorted, her fingers digging into the soft skin of her arms as she shook her head and pushed herself away from the wall. "Your son isn't a monster, Ifrin, and I can assure you that the vast majority of humans know that Brac'n is a child and the whole thing was an accident." Her lips twisted in a foul grimace and Orin was troubled to see her so set aside from her usual, unbothered self. "The humans that think Brac'n is in any way to blame are a tiny minority or simpering, narrow-minded idiots. I could name them on one hand." 

Orin cast a look at the sleeping child to his right, reaching out to fold back a strand of silky, black hair with a smile. "How could anyone look at him and not love him? None of this was Brac'n's fault."

Ifrin huffed a sound, pleased, proud... His face relaxed, and he glanced up at Auur'na with a gentle tilt to his lips. "As none of what occurred is a fault of yours, Orin."

"Where is he?"

Ana bustled into the room with all the finese of a giraffe on stilts, banging the door against Janna and flapping a hand at the woman when she let out a yelp. 

"You're fine, don't be so dramatic, what's that little scrap gone and gotten himself into now?" 

Her eyes narrowed in on Orin, fascinated and bright behind her lenses as she put a hand on her chin and looked down at him. She stayed stock still, frozen and unblinking as Orin felt his smile waver and become more of a wary grimace beneath the unnerving stare. 

"Ana, please, Richard had barely begun to explain what... Oh!" 

Kou was fast on the human doctor's heels, his dark eyes all but popping from his face as he stared down at Orin. The arm holding a simple, black satchel went slack and Orin was only glad of Richard swooping in at the last minute to save whatever was clinking within from hitting the floor. 

"You!" Ana pointed a finger at Richard, then Janna, ignoring the glare the younger woman aimed up at her. "And you! Out!" 

She gave them not a second to protest, pushing them both out with a strength her wiry body should not possess, and closing the door behind them. She grinned as she yelled into the wood of the door. "You can talk with him later, off with the pair of you!" 

She whirled on Orin again, her eyes suddenly wide. A pale hand ran through her wild hair and Orin felt just a little bad for causing such a stir with the insane doctor. 

A little bad... A teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy bit.

And even less so when Ana invaded his space to pull a this face, earning a whine for her troubles. She hushed him, fingers stretching the lids of his eyes and tilting him to face the torch she pulled from her pockets and all but blinding him. Her lips pursed on a hum, her fingers swift to check his pulse and cool against his skin; before a quick listen to his heart from a set of stethoscopes, pulled from a different pocket, had her finishing her sudden, brief exam with a sigh.

"I'm out of my depth here, Kou... He looks and sounds fine as far as I can tell. Given the... Side effects? Sudden, unexpected... Side effects..." She trailed off with a scowl, muttering to herself and casting Orin an accusatory look; as though he had gone and changed his eyes just to mess with her.

He bloody well might have, too; had he had any say in the matter of his body 'healing' the way it had.

Kou was wary in his approach, his stance gentle as he stepped into Orin's space and kneeled down slowly. There was a shiver creeping along the edges of Orin's spine that he had no name for, something apprehensive and tense that had his fingers stilling in Ruuri's red hair as Kou met his wide stare with a gently blinking look of his own. The Healer rumbled a soft sound, low and quiet and Orin's gaze flickered once to Auur'na, his brow furrowed. 

Golden eyes stared back at him, the Telua's features soft, his head bowing in gentle nod. 

"How are you feeling, Orin?" 

The blonde tilted his head, stretching his arms out in front of him as that strange sensation flitted away and he blinked across at Kou. "I'm... Alright? My muscles are a bit sore, I guess?"

Kou nodded gently, his own shoulders relaxing. "That would be from the lack of use... Easily remedied with gel and gentle exercise. Can you hear me?" 

The blonde frowned, nodding his head, of course he could... It took a moment to realise that Kou was pointing to his chest, to where a gentle rumble had begun to vibrate. It was so soft, so quiet, it very nearly went unnoticed by him. Orin blinked. 

The rumble was a question, gentle and coaxing... It was a curious lull, the softest query as to whether he was alright... And how he understood it, he had absolutely no idea. It was an inate instinct he had never in his life possessed, a knowledge he had never known. 

Orin felt his own lips part on a purr of a sound to answer it without a shred of thought. He was more than alright, he was safe, with friends and... Family... His own purr was a pitch higher, trembling in his throat, new and strange and bizzarely comfortable. He heard Auur'na's sharp intake of breath just as he saw Ifrin snap his head up to look at him. Kou's eyes remained gentle, though his lips pulled into a wide smile. 

The Telua leaned back, folding his arms across his slender chest and huffing a confused, but satisfied sound back at the others in the room. "By Human standards," he glanced at Ana, who raised a brow and shrugged one shoulder, her own lips splitting in a smile. Kou shook his head with something of a laugh. 

"By Human and Teluan standards... he is in perfect health." Kou reached out a gentle hand to tilt Orin's face up slowly to face the sunlight pouring in from the windows Auur'na had opened. "Weary from a time spent healing, as most others are, but no worse for it. Your vocals are a pitch higher, though I cannot say for sure that this is simply not due to your human heritage."

Human heritage? Orin frowned, glancing down at the hands in his lap. "I'm still human, though, aren't I?" 

Kou rumbled a soft sound, one that set Orin's sudden fear at ease, as he looked back up at the healer. 

"You are human for the most part, Orin. Your body appears human, even though certain features seem to have... Been altered... With the Venom. We will have to wait and see if other changes make an appearance in the coming days, but," He glanced again at Ana, before looking to Auur'na and smiling gently, "I would say you are well to leave the Centre and enjoy the sunshine. Also... It is an absolute pleasure to have you back to us."

Orin grinned, beaming up at Auur'na who was looking down at him with no small amount of amusement, and fascination. He cast a soft look down at the two sleeping Telua beside him. "What about Ruuri? And Brac'n?"

Ifrin stood suddenly with a weary sigh, the man's face tired as he reached out a hand to help Orin stand, and folded himself onto the medium sized bed beside his family in the blonde's place. "If you would fetch D'fi and Lull'ri, Kou; I believe a well earned rest is in order." His dark eyes were closed before he had finished speaking, his body going lax against the soft sheets and Orin stared at the three of them fondly for a moment, before turning towards a pair of golden eyes that seemed to be trying to stare a hole through him. 

He grinned, and held out a hand to the Telua. 

"Take a walk with me, Auur'na." 

###

"Is it strange?"

The sunlight outside was warm where it washed against his face, the breeze mild and full of the scent of flowers. Orin cast his face up into it with a sigh, his fingers locked tight around the hand laced with his own. 

He peeked open one eye to take in Auur'na's form beside him, realising with a jolt that the man was already looking at him. Auur'na smiled, a thing soft and gentle. 

"It is not strange, Orin," Auur'na's voice was incredibly soft, a growl trembling beneath his words that spoke of everything the Telua was trying to sort in his mind. "Though you are changed in certain ways, you are you; and It is beyond a relief to simply hear your voice again."

Orin let his eyes open further, leaning close to the man and digging an elbow into his side gently. "I'm sorry..." The words were sad, filled with an unfamiliar, little croon that Orin had no hope of controlling. His heart was heavy with the weight of what he had put Auur'na through. With all his thoughts being so fixated on saving Brac'n, he had not taken a second to understand what his actions might have meant for the man beside him; the man who had already lost so much. 

Auur'na's answering purr was gentle, light enough that it tapered away on the breeze as they walked, the Telua taking them on a path around the back of the Medical Centre, veering towards a track seldom used, in a direction Orin was beginning to become familiar with. 

"I wish not to make you feel guilt, Orin. I wish not to make you feel anything but proud of what you have done. You saved Brac'n that day, and Ruuri too. I am proud of you." Auur'na glanced down at him, taking Orin's arm and forcing him into a half-spin that left the pair of them smiling. "I am in awe of you, Orin." 

The blonde flushed, the heat a sudden, fierce thing beneath his skin. "I mostly just reacted to be honest, Auur'na... He was just a kid, I couldn't leave him up there if I thought I might be able to help. I ran before thinking, but I won't lie though..." Orin's eyes grew dark, his body fighting off a shiver despite the warmth. "For a minute there when I realised what was happening... Before everything went dark... I was terrified." 

Orin saw the dark memories as something more of a tempered nightmare on the edges of his mind... They were distant, faded images of Auur'na's frightened face and Kou's terrified eyes... Voices melting into one as Ana's panicked tones pushed them all aside... The feel of ice running through his blood... 

Auur'na's hold tightened on him, the Telua humming a soft, sedated sound as they trailed through paths of familiar pink flowers and hot stones. "It is a fear I tried not to lose myself to... I am sorry that it was a fear I could not ease in you, before you succumbed to my venom. I had thought you beyond the point of remembering such a hardship."

Orin squeezed Auur'an's hand, grinning up at him. "It's okay, now though, right? I mean, I'm right here and I'm walking and talking and just as much a nuisance as I was before, I'm sure!" He laughed, a thrill of a sound that brought a smile to Auur'na's darkened features, before his thoughts snagged on something the Telua had said. 

"Wait," Orin frowned, his steps faltering for a moment as Auur'na's house came into view on the edges of the copse of trees, small and familiar and oddly comforting. "Wait..." 

Green eyes caught with gold, Orin's lips twisting in confusion. "Your venom?"

Auur'na cooed a gentle sound, his golden eyes dark and his smile molten. "My venom, Orin. Brac'n's bite was the first, his venom coursed through you as though it might strip you to nothing, from the inside out..." Gentle fingers traced the edges of his neck and Orin fought off a shiver that threatened to spill down his spine, his lips parting on a sudden breath. 

"It was my venom that wiped his clean... My venom that Ana believed would stabilize you... Would heal you..." 

"Your venom..." Orin breathed the words, his mind suddenly clouded with the scent of flowers, the scent of something sweet and heated and safe... He gasped to drag such a scent between his lips, his eyes fluttering half-closed against the gold that seemed to swallow him whole. "You're... You're a Prime?"

Auur'na's grin was familiar, as feral as it had been in the moments when the Telua had been teasing him, making him fall deeper and deeper into his obsession, his fascination... There was a dark noise that lit his senses alight, a thrum of a growl that vibrated through him and would have sent him buckling to the ground, had Auur'na's arms not reached out to pull him close. 

The scent surrounded him, enveloped him as physically as Auur'na's body and drew a desperate, crooning whimper from his throat that the Telua answered with a sudden, harsh growl. Orin's thoughts were liquid, his body a heated mess as he tried to control his limbs enough to wrap his hands around Auur'na's arms. 

Auur'na was a Prime. 

How the bloody hell had he not noticed that?

The man's knowledge, his age, his position in the Council... The way he followed behind the Telua who had come to Earth, his eyes forever watched everything around them... His strength and speed and the fangs that seemed so long and sharp against those lips... 

Orin whimpered, digging his nails into the Telua's smooth, grey skin and panting up at him as Auur'na stared down at him with golden eyes blown wide and bright. Of course, he was a Prime... The very thought was one that seemed to douse Orin in flames, his thighs clenching as sweat pooled, suddenly thick and slick between his thighs... 

He gasped, his mouth open on a pant as he glanced down. His legs were slick with a substance clear and slipping down his pale limbs like oil. 

What the fuck was he leaking? 

Was that definitely coming from him? 

Green eyes snapped up at Auur'na's sudden snarl, Orin's sudden, frantic whimpers dropping to a whine as the Telua bared teeth, sharp and white. Auur'na's golden eyes were near the colour of bronze they had darkened to such a degree, his body tensed. The man leaned in to inhale, his chest lifting with the scent of Orin as his mouth parted of a sudden, vicious growl. 

"Another... Side effect..."

Auur'na's tones were dark, a heady rumble that Orin tried to listen to as words, and not as sounds that sparked pleasure against his skin. He frowned, gasping as another wave of... Something... Slick and warm... Slipped between his thighs and drew a huff of a growl from Auur'na. The Telua glanced once back towards the centre they had come from, his brow furrowed; before lifting Orin against him with a sudden, dark growl and carrying him towards his home. 

"You are in heat." 


	26. Chapter Twenty=-Six

Auur'na's scent was a vice with the consistency of smoke. 

It was something Orin tried to grasp for in his half-asleep state, something far out of reach from his fingers but a steady constant all the same across senses that were flooding fast with sensation. Though his eyes remained closed, the scent was a palpable, intoxicating thing. It lured him to a lull as he buried his face into the softness around him and leaned into the relaxed mess that he was sure, at some point, had been his body.

His senses were skewed, his lips parting on a sigh of satisfaction, even as he tried to right whatever sensation made him feel so... Unsure...

It was something he could compare almost to a fever, that steady, thrumming, uncomfortable heat that itched beneath his skin and flushed his mind with vapid thoughts and strange mutterings. 

He was himself, but not; fully in his own thoughts and mind but apart from it, as though he knew that something had gone awry with his body but he could not stretch his emotions enough to care about it. 

And he was bloody aroused. 

Orin growled a sound, short and tepid, against whatever blanket he had burrowed against; his lips pulling back on a simper of a snarl as arousal licked against his spine like something familiar, yet foreign. He had felt it before, that sudden, sparking, wonderful flicker of blood rush and dark thoughts. He had felt arousal before... He could compare what was happening to him now to what had happened before... 

And, at the same time, he could not. 

He knew arousal, yes, but not like this. 

He had never burned at the core from just a scent like this... He had never whimpered against soft sheets that tickled his nerves raw like this... He had never craved a man so hard his teeth hurt as he growled a noise darker and deeper. 

And he craved...

He craved...

"Hush... You will hurt yourself..."

Orin's eyes flared wide, luminous green blinking rapidly against the dim light of the bedroom. 

Auur'na's bedroom. 

Auur'na's curtains pulled taut across his windows, his sparse furnishing straight and tidy. Auurna's bed beneath his burning skin piled high with blankets that smelled so like...

Him. 

"Auur'na?"

The word was a question in as much as it was a plea, soft and small on Orin's tongue as he blinked heavily towards where a set of golden eyes watched him from the foot of the bed. 

The Telua stared at him with an air of tense curiosity, his eyes cautious as they roved across the blonde's heated form, half-buried in blankets and pillows. His bronze hair was loose about bare shoulders, soft and sleek as though the man had combed it only recently, though his hands were still and unmoving in his lap. 

Orin reached out before his mind could catch up to his body's whims, his fingers stretching across the open space between them until Auur'na caught them gently in his own warm grasp, his lips tilting in some semblance of a smile. 

"All is well, Orin, I promise you."

All is well, he says. 

Orin frowned down at their joined hands, digging his nails just a fraction deeper into Auur'na's lightly furred skin and huffing a noise that was almost akin to a growl, low and tempered in the small room. 

Auur'na hummed back at him, a full smile twisting his lips though he tilted his head to the side in an attempt to hide it. 

"I can only begin to understand what you might be feeling... Heat is not a thing I can empatise with..." The man's face seemed to soften, his eyes a fraction darker as he looked back at Orin and sighed. "Nor is it something that I would wish upon you. You may sleep through it, if you try?"

Orin glanced again at their hands, sliding his thumb across Auur'na's nails. 

Heat. 

That's what this was. 

He was going through a heat... What the hell did that even mean for him? 

His mouth twisted, a pitiful little sound snaking passed his pressed lips as sensation sparked against his spine and licked across his skin. He exhaled slowly, his thoughts slipping one against the other, hovering on the edges of his mind like little inconsistencies. 

"Wh..." Orin scowled, closing his eyes against the onslaught of gold that threatened to steal away any hope of coherency. Whatever of the heat that was simmering through his body and mind... Auur'na's gaze was one he could easily lose himself to. 

"Why... Am I...?"

Auur'na leaned closer, the scent of him forcing Orin to open his eyes and gulp in a breath of air. The Telua was clothed only in a set of loose shorts, Orin's captivated eyes locked on to. His grey legs were folded beneath him, the muscles corded tight from the way the man had been sitting. "Why are you in Heat?"

Orin nodded, his eyes lifting to track the gentle sway of Auur'na's tail where it fell to one side of the bedding, soft and sleek. 

"I cannot answer that," Auur'na was shaking his head, his hair shuffling against his chest, "Because I do not know, Orin. A Teluan Heat is an effect of Prime Venom and Prime Venom alone." The Telua clasped Orin's hand in his, twisting the small limb and running his thumb over Orin's pulse point in a move that sent a thrill running through his core. The blonde lifted his gaze to stare up at Auur'na and that golden stare looked right back at him. 

"When a Telua wishes to conceive a child, they request a bite from a Prime. Given that the Telua is healthy, with a potentially capable Birth Space, Prime Venom will often trigger a Heat within the one who is bitten." Auur'na's voice was half-lost to him save for the gentle tones it provided, his words pressing, and understood, but second to the gentle, slow motion of the Telua's thumb against Orin's wrist. 

"This Heat allows conception... whether that is from another Telua bearing a possible Birth Space... Or a Prime Telua." The thumb trailed down Orin's arm slowly and green eyes followed it as though mesmerised, a quaking purr had filled the room that Orin was beyond a doubt sure was coming from him, and he felt no inclination to stop it. 

Auur'na huffed a soft sound, his hand lifting to grasp Orin's chin and tilt his face up gently. His eyes were dark, but his smile was incredibly soft. "I believe the Venom has forced a... Faux Heat from your body, Orin, in a strange attempt to flush from your system. It will calm soon and I will have Kou see to you as soon as your scent is not as... Alluring as it is at the moment..."

Auur'na's voice gentled to a growl, his eyes lidding as he inhaled Orin's scent and huffed a breathy sound. 

Orin watched him for a fraction of a second, his eyes blown wide, before his hands darted out and grasped Auur'na slowly by the shoulders, pulling the Telua down until he was a whisper of a breath in distance. Startled gold eyes stared down at him, the man tense beneath his fingers before Auur'na snorted something of a laugh and canted an eyebrow. 

"You do understand that it may pass more quickly if you simply rest for the evening? Sleep can only be good for you after everything, little one." 

Orin scowled up at him, his mouth parted on a frantic breath as that scent of wildflowers and musk seemed to double with how close he was to Auur'na's skin. He fought for a moment's control, his lips twisting into something of a grin as he pushed his body closer. "Auur'na..." His voice was a whine that darkened the Telua's gentle face, his body flushing fast with heat. Orin grinned up at him. "Please shut up."

He pulled the man down before there could be a reply, his lips sliding over Auur'na's with a single-minded determination that dragged a moan from the Telua's chest. 

Orin gasped as he was suddenly flat against the sheets, his body caged in on either side by Auur'na's arms. The Telua's mouth was impossibly hot against his own, the slide of lips slick and followed fast with a tongue that stroked against Orin's own and licked a path inside his mouth that had him mewling. 

Above him like this, there was no denying that Auur'na was a tremendous deal larger than him. His arms were unmoving where Orin braced his own palms against the stoic, lean muscle, his taller frame towering over the blonde's tiny form in a way that had Orin melting from the inside out. Auur'na's hair spilled like a curtain to one side, blocking out what little light there had been in the bedroom and heating the space between them until Orin tore his mouth free to pant into the darkness. 

His senses were alight in a way they had never been before, his voice shrill as Auur'na traced a path across his throat with his mouth, his teeth a gentle threat against pale skin blooming pink and warm. Every nerve was alight as the Telua's body brushed against his front, his legs splaying open as something slick and incredibly hot trailed between his thighs. 

Auur'na stilled, his teeth baring in a sudden growl that had Orin huffing a whine. The Telua hummed, the sound brokering on a vibrating growl as he moved to trail his fingers slowly across Orin's thigh. The grasp was warm, gentle and fleeting as long fingers slipped through the substance that slid steadily... From...

Himself?

Orin squealed as Auur'na moved to sit back suddenly, his arm around the blonde's back ensuring that Orin followed him into an upright position. Green eyes flared wide as Orin found himself abruptly sitting in Auur'na's lap, his legs splayed wide across the Telua's thighs and one of Auur'na's hand held aloft before them both. 

The substance coating the Telua's fingers was clear, shining even in the dull light and seemed to have Auur'na enchanted. Orin watched him rub his fingers together slowly, before golden eyes locked with Orin's own. 

"Slick." 

Slick? 

Orin could do little but shrug, his fingers digging into the Telua's chest as Auur'na tilted him back just a fraction, one slender hand holding his entire body steady. 

"This is called Slick." Auur'na's voice was a growl, dark and incredibly pretty to listen to as he rubbed his fingers together once more, his gaze caught on Orin's. "And you, little human, should not be able to produce it..." 

Orin huffed, eyes narrowing. 

Obviously. 

He was pretty sure he would have remembered any instances in his life when he started leaking spontaneously... From... Down below... 

Orin was so lost in his scowl, he froze as fingers suddenly slid against his length, his eyes snapping wide as that slick substance was trailed so very slowly down his heated shaft until Auur'na's fingers had him cupped and the man's golden eyes took on a dangerous glimmer. 

"But you should also not be in Heat." 

The man's voice was downright sinful and Orin felt his lips part on a staggered breath as those fingers slid further down and slipped between the sudden, hot, slick mess he had not even been aware he had been producing... 

"You should not smell and leak like one desperate to be... Bred..." 

Those fingers slid slowly against the mess, rubbing even as more seemed to spill from him and Orin made a desperate sound. Auur'na leaned over him with a muted growl of his own. 

"You follow no rules but your own, my little Orin..."

Orin whined as those long fingers breached him deftly, sliding against walls warm and soft and incredibly wet. They rubbed against the plump skin slowly, drawing a pitiful moan from him. Each gentle move brought them further inside him, his hips moving in a desperate attempt to spur Auur'na to go faster. With a hum, the Telua cooed down at him, voice soft and filled with breath as he licked a path against Orin's pale neck. 

"I am enamoured by you... My sweet, little dancer." 

Auur'na's voice was suddenly soft, his golden eyes bright with a smile as Orin peered up at him. The blonde whimpered as those fingers rubbed steadily inside him, further and further until they were bearing down on a spot that had him wailing. The sensation sparked against his spine, his hips pressing down on the intrusion as he dug his fingers against whatever bit of skin he could grasp. 

Auur'na purred, unrelenting as he slid a third digit in beside the first two and Orin hissed against the gentle stretch. The sound of slick was wet and fascinating amid their shallow breaths and Orin's cries, Auur'na's lips parting on a growl each time more spilled out of him to pool in the Telua's lap. 

The scent was incredible, of faint flora Orin had never before smelled in his life, petals warmed beneath summer suns and pollen silken to the point of almost honey. He could no longer tell if it was coming from Auur'na or himself, or some mouth-watering combination of the two of them. He knew only that Auur'na's length was hard beneath him and he wanted the man. 

He wanted him so much. 

Fingers slid from inside him so suddenly, Orin felt his thighs begin to shake. His legs were held open by Auur'na's own, a gentle mimic of their first time together what seemed like... So long ago... 

Orin's body spilled pliant against Auur'na's front as the Telua drew him close, his hand lifting to clasp the dark marking on Auur'na's upper arm. His other hand braced with a distant tremor against Auur'na's stomach, the soft tuft of the end of the Telua's tail brushing his wrist as the appendage wrapped once around his middle. 

His skin was incredibly hot, flushed to a pinched pink that complimented the soft lilac flushing Auur'na's own grey torso. The fur across his stomach was sparse, soft and fragile and Orin ran his fingers through it gently as Auur'na wrapped a solid arm around his waist and drew him skin to skin. 

"My Orin..."

The words were a whisper but Orin leaned into them, blinking green eyes up at Auur'na's face and watching the Telua stare down at him with no small amount of adoration. He purred a gentle sound, his own lips tilting in a soft smile as Auur'na purred back at him and flashed a gentle grin filled with fang. 

"Slowly, yes?"

Slowly... Sure... 

Orin held that dark, golden gaze as something hot and slick and hard slid slowly between his splayed thighs. His breath stalled, his mouth parting minimally.

Auur'na's length was held in the Telua's hand, still as impressive looking as the first time Orin had laid eyes on it and no less... 

Big. 

Orin felt his breath stutter on a gasp as the tip pressed against the mess Auur'na's fingers had created not moments before. Slender and wet, hot to the point of near discomfort and tapered at the tip, it slid inside him with absolutely no resistance. 

Orin felt himself clench and Auur'na stilled, purring a gentle sound that vibrated through the blonde's senses and drew an answering chirrup from Orin that was both tense and soft. The Telua hummed, his tail tight around Orin's waist as he tipped the blonde onto his back with a sudden huff of laughter. 

Orin had only a second to growl his discontent before the rest of Auur'na's length was sliding into him, rubbing hot and wet against his inner walls and dragging a shrill cry from his lips that the Telua answered with a snarl of his own. Orin grasped tight to the blankets around him, his fingers clenching in the soft material as Auur'na leaned forward, the Telua's arms bracing by his head as Auur'na pushed gently with his hips. 

Where he expected pain... Orin found none. 

There was pressure... By Gods, it was a pressure he had never experienced before in his life. His thighs were open wide, Auur'na's hips flush against his own and sending sparks that lit his mind alight and brought a trembling moan coursing from his throat. His chest was heaving, breaths panting out of him as Auur'na pressed inside him and filled him to his core. The Telua's length stroked a fire inside him that was threatening to eat him alive, flames that he was sure were licking his skin from his bone. 

Not pain... Something altogether... More...

Orin shrieked at the sudden heat, the sound piercing, and a part of him delighted in the snarl Auur'na breathed in response. The Telua's fangs were stark white, bared against the man's lips. Orin cooed up at him, the sound new and thrilling against his throat as he peered up at the dark, golden eyes staring down at him. 

Auur'na growled, low and dark, before canting his hips forward with a snap that sent pleasure spiking up Orin's spine. He gasped on a moan, his eyes widening as Auur'na snapped his teeth on a smile and dragged slowly out of him. 

The Telua groaned low, before grasping one of Orin's hips in his hand and sliding in again. 

Wet... 

Orin felt his eyes all but roll back as the man above him started a gentle rhythm, his every exhale a wanton, little whimper as each slide brought forth more and more slick. There was a fire that was building inside his stomach, sensation sparking against both his mind and his body as he grasped the arms caging him in and tilted his hips to catch each and every shift of Auur'na slipping inside him. His skin was aflame, each wisp of Auur'na's soft hair against his chest and side drawing a shiver from him that he could do little to suppress. 

Auur'na's body covered his own, blanketed it while staying far enough away that each little touch was intentionally gentle, exceptionally soft. Orin reveled in them, his arm reaching out to clasp Auur'na's cheek in his palm and his eyes lidding as another thrust slid inside of him. 

Auur'na's eyes were a shade of almost black, incredibly dark and narrowed as he moved his hips faster, sliding his front against Orin's own in a move that had the blonde shaking and shrieking beneath him. The Telua's lips parted on a dark sound, as he leaned forward to place the softest kiss on Orin's mouth. 

It was the kiss, Orin realised, that poured him over the edge. Though the sensations building all but burned him alive, and his mind was tipping fast as flames crawled up his spine; it was the kiss that had Orin a shivering, whimpering mess beneath the man. He arched against the sudden climax, his fingernails gouging marks into Auur'na's arms as he fought to stay afloat his own sense of satisfaction. His thoughts blurred to nothing, Auur'na's golden eyes the only thing in his mind as he keened softly. 

He was barely aware of the Telua's amused growl, his breath a fluttering, fragile thing as Auur'na pressed into him with a sudden speed that had his eyes rolling to the back of his head with the overstimulation. Auur'na's seed spilled inside of him like something molten, thick and so incredibly hot that Orin thought it might set fires to the flames anew. He groaned as the Telua drew him close, his eyes opening just a fraction to peek up at Auur'na's soft smile. 

He was exhausted, his every nerve alive and awake as he shivered in the taller man's arms and whimpered with the small jolts of pleasure that coursed through him.

Still... Orin grinned. 

He could think of worse things to go through than a Heat.


End file.
